French poultry and prepared foods group LDC is to exceed the company's targets for annual sales and EBITDA.
The owner of the Loué and Le Gaulois brands booked annual revenue of €7.28bn for the year to the end of February, up more than 15% and by 7.6% on a like-for-like basis. Volumes increased 1.3%.
LDC had projected revenue would reach €7bn in its 2026-27 financial year.
Amid the jump in revenue, the company said its EBITDA target of more than €560m for the 2025-26 financial year is expected to be “significantly exceeded”.
In the fourth quarter of the year just closed, LDC's revenue rose 12.5% to €1.98bn ($2.31bn).
The group said the growth was supported by “persistently high poultry consumption, combined with price increases, strong year-end festive trading and the contribution from acquisitions”.
The listed group has been expanding through acquisitions in recent years. Its latest deal, signed last month, was for France Poultry, the export business of Saudi Arabia’s Almunajem Group. In December, LDC bought a majority stake in the UK-based duck business Gressingham Foods.
On a like-for-like basis, fourth-quarter sales increased 9.2%. Volumes rose 6.5%.
France Poultry, LDC’s largest division, generated fourth-quarter revenue of €1.22bn including upstream operations, a 6.7% increase. Full-year sales from the division rose 7.3%.
Excluding upstream activities, quarterly poultry sales rose 5.2%, with management citing a favourable price effect as it rolled out increases under its poultry sector development plan.
That plan aims to “preserve the attractiveness” of the French poultry supply chain, from breeders and hatcheries to feed mills and farms, amid rising consumer demand for poultry and locally sourced products.
Outside France, fourth-quarter sales rose 24.4% to €431.7m, or 23.4% at constant exchange rates, while full-year revenue jumped 47.2% to €1.40bn.
Growth was driven by price increases and the integration of acquisitions including Indykpol, Calibra, Konspol and ECF, LDC said.
The prepared foods division posted fourth-quarter revenue of €324.1m, up 22%, benefiting from the integration of the Groupe Pierre Martinet acquired last year.
Full-year sales from the unit increased 19.7% to €1.16bn.
The group will publish its full 2025-2026 results on 27 May.
