The specialist bakery group stressed that the overall operating environment remained challenging and it said it may be forced to implement “dynamic pricing” to offset rising input prices: “Current trends suggesting double digit price inflation may be necessary to recover costs.”
Chief executive Owen Killian stressed that the speed and severity of food raw material price increases was unexpected but that “in such an inflationary environment, bakery plays an important role in a food menu or basket and provides an innovative value proposition for consumers”.
And, he added, Aryzta is encouraged by the fact that “underlying revenue growth during the period is returning, supported by evidence of a consumer recovery across most markets.”
Aryzta, which owns Cuisine de France, has operations in Europe, North and South America, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
The group’s earnings before interest, tax, and amortisation (EBITA) increased 52 per cent to €173.1m for the period. Revenues in North America rose 140 per cent, helping to push the total food group revenue up to the figure of €1.28bn.
In Europe, it said that food revenues rose 10 per cent, reflecting the slower pace of economic recovery. But the company reports that in continental Europe, there is a return to growth, particularly in the independent bakery and boulangerie segment.
Sales in the rest of the world jumped 591 per cent, and the company reported a reduction of net debt by 4.6 per cent to €1.06m.