Greencore Plc said on Thursday that it expects its full-year out-turn to be at the lower end of market expectations as industrial action and slow recovery from inflationary pressures hit demand and volumes.
First-quarter revenue at the group increased by 19% year-on-year to €526.5 million (£463 million), the group noted, driven by inflationary effects, with manufactured volumes slightly down year on year.
Volatile Market
Commenting on the performance, Dalton Philips, CEO, said, "It's a difficult, volatile market, and the business has got off to a slower start to the year than envisaged.
"Given this, we are doubling down on our initiatives on inflation recovery, and in parallel, driving harder and faster to get our cost base to the right level."
Greencore said while inflation has been easing in some raw materials and packaging, labour and energy costs continued to hit earnings.
The group said it is focusing on recovering costs from customers.
'Highly Enthusiastic'
"After just four months in the business, and notwithstanding the obvious challenges, I remain highly enthusiastic about the longer-term future of Greencore," Philips added.
"Strategically we are well positioned for the future growth given our customer base, the categories in which we operate, our operational capabilities and critically the people behind all of this. However, the immediate focus is to tackle the shorter-term self-help actions which set the foundations for margin recovery.”
News by Reuters, additional reporting and edited by Donna Ahern, Checkout. For more A-brand news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
