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LONDON (Alliance News) - Glanbia reported a rise in pretax profit for 2015 despite a difficult year for dairy markets, and said its outlook for 2016 is positive, guiding for further growth in earnings.
The nutrition and ingredients company posted a pretax profit of EUR218.7 million, up from EUR173.6 million a year before, as revenue rose to EUR2.77 billion from EUR2.54 billion.
It reported earnings per share, adjusted to strip out exceptional items, of 79.14 cents, up 29% from 61.16 cents in 2014, or up 10.6% at constant currency.
Glanbia expects to see 8% to 10% growth in adjusted earnings per share at constant currency for 2016.
Revenue growth was driven by a strong performance from the company's Glanbia Performance Nutrition business, helped by a strong performance in the US and boosted by acquisitions. This helped to offset lower revenue from the company's share of joint ventures and associates, which was hit by the decline in global dairy market prices, and the sale of the company's interest in Nutricima.
The company proposed a final dividend of 7.22 euro cents per share, taking its total dividend to 12.10 cents, up 10% from 11.0 cents it paid in 2014.
"The results demonstrate the resilience and diversification of the Glanbia model during a difficult year for dairy markets. Glanbia Performance Nutrition was the main driver of earnings growth supported by Dairy Ireland which saw a recovery in performance in 2015. The outlook for 2016 is positive and we are guiding 8% to 10% growth in adjusted earnings per share, constant currency," said Group Managing Director Siobhán Talbot in a statement.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; hanassmith@alliancenews.com; @HanaSSAllNews
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