Bonduelle today (7 August) booked a 5.5% rise in annual underlying sales – but its shares tumbled, with industry watchers citing potential fears over the French food group’s Russian business.
The company reported a 1.3% rise in total sales to EUR1.92bn (US$2.57bn) for the year to the end of June.
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At constant exchange rates and excluding M&A, turnover was up 5.5%, beating a company target of growth of 4%.
Nevertheless, Bonduelle’s shares were down 5.85% at EUR19.97 at 16:00 CET. Analysts speculated the fall in shares could be due to investor fears over Bonduelle’s exposure to Russia.
Moscow today (7 August) issued details on plans to ban food imports from the US, the EU and other markets in response to recent sanctions on the country.
Bonduelle told just-food it was “not concerned” by the bans. “The firm has two factories in Russia near Krasnodar, which produce on site but Bonduelle doesn’t export in Russia,” the company said.
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By GlobalDataReflecting on its sales, Bonduelle pointed to “a return to positive growth and strong growth outside Europe”, where turnover grew 12.4% once foreign exchange and M&A were excluded from the results.
Sales in Europe account for two-thirds of Bonduelle’s turnover and were up 2.3% on an organic basis.
Underlying sales from Bonduelle’s largest business, canned food, were up 6.5%. Frozen food sales increased 5.9% on an organic basis, while revenue from Bonduelle’s “fresh processed” division was up 1.5%.
Bonduelle reports its full financial results next month. However, it said its operating income will reach the “upper end” of its EUR106-107m forecast thanks to the sales growth seen in the fourth quarter.
