Frozen food group Nomad Foods today (24 August) reported what its CEO described as “strong” second-quarter results, with its revenue trends improving from the first three months of the year.
The Birds Eye and Iglo owner also narrowed its forecast for its annual adjusted EBITDA by raising the low end of its guidance, even though earnings by that metric did fall in the first half of the year.
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Nomad Foods’ second-quarter revenue inched up 0.5% to EUR458m (US$450.6m). Stripping out the impact of exchange rates, on an organic basis, revenue rose 3.5%, with volume/mix accounting for 0.8 points of the growth.
Adjusted EBITDA increased 2% to EUR79m. Adjusted profit after tax rose 20% to EUR42m.
On a reported basis, including the impact of exceptional items, Nomad Foods’ second-quarter operating profit rose from EUR9.7m a year ago to EUR57.5m in this year’s second quarter. The company made a second-quarter net profit of EUR19.3m, versus a loss last year of EUR7.3m.
CEO Stéfan Descheemaeker said: “Second-quarter results were strong with 3.5% organic growth and 90 basis points of gross margin expansion. We continue to deliver against our strategic agenda with a clear focus on growing profitable market share within our core categories. Based on our year-to-date performance and visibility into the back half of the year, we now expect 2017 EBITDA to be in the upper half of our previous range.”
Nomad Foods is forecasting annual adjusted EBITDA of around EUR320m to EUR325m.
