Glanbia plc (“Glanbia”, the “Group”, the “plc”), the global nutrition group, announces its preliminary results for the 2019 financial year ended 4 January 2020 (“Full year 2019”, “FY 2019”, “2019”).
GLANBIA DELIVERS ADJUSTED EPS IN LINE WITH GUIDANCE AND IMPLEMENTS NEW MEASURES TO DRIVE GROWTH
Summary of Results for Full Year 2019
- Revenue of €3,875.7 million (2018: €3,170.5(1) million), up 16.6% constant currency on prior year (up 22.2% reported)
- Pre-exceptional EBITA of €276.8 million (2018: €284.9 million), down 7.8% constant currency (down 2.8% reported)
- Joint Ventures (JVs) reported share of profits up €3.3 million to €48.6 million
- Profit after tax, pre-exceptional of €214.8 million (2018: €234.0 million)
- Exceptional items, after tax, of €34.6 million; primarily relates to actions commenced to re-organise GPN for growth
- Profit after tax, post-exceptional, of €180.2 million (2018: €234.0 million)
- Adjusted earnings per share(2) (EPS) of 88.10 (2018: 91.01 cent) cent in line with guidance of 88c – 92c
- Basic EPS(3) of 61.04 cent (2018: 79.28 cent)
- Operating cash flow (OCF) of €279.9 million; 86% conversion rate
- Recommended final dividend per share of 15.94 cent; total 2019 dividend increased by 10% to 26.62 cent, representing a payout ratio of 30.2%
- Completed review of GPN operations and markets with actions commenced to drive revenue growth
- 2020 adjusted EPS expected to be broadly in line with prior year on a constant currency basis.
(1) Restated due to IFRS 15.
(2) Adjusted EPS is defined as the net profit attributable to the equity holders of Glanbia plc, before exceptional items and intangible asset amortisation (excluding software amortisation), net of related tax, divided by the weighted average number of ordinaryshares in issue during the year, excluding ordinary shares purchased by the Group and held as own shares. For further details see page 40.
(3) Basic Earnings Per Share is calculated by dividing the net profit attributable to the equity holders of Glanbia plc, by the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the year, excluding ordinary shares purchased by the Group and held as own shares. For further details see page 32.
Commenting today Siobhán Talbot, Group Managing Director, said:
“Glanbia has delivered a 16.6% increase in revenues in 2019, driven by a strong performance from our Glanbia Nutritionals (“GN”) segment, and by the acquisitions of SlimFast and Watson. GN saw broad-based volume growth with notable performances in vitamin and mineral blends, and healthy snack ingredients, underlining the continued consumer shift towards health and wellness.
It was disappointing that earnings were impacted by challenges in the Glanbia Performance Nutrition (“GPN”) segment and to address these we have conducted a comprehensive business review and are taking actions to simplify our business, allowing us to concentrate on our core brands, and optimising our routes to market across channels and geographies. As a result, we expect GPN to regain branded revenue growth momentum in 2020.
Glanbia is financially strong and cash generative. We have increased our dividend by 10% and we are proposing to our shareholders that we adopt a share buyback programme in 2020.
We are confident that the actions being taken will position the company to generate enhanced shareholder value in a growing healthy nutrition market.”