Greenyard Achieves Milestone Sales and Strong Financial Growth.
Greenyard has achieved remarkable financial results, marking significant milestones in its 40-year history. Below are the key highlights from the recent financial report:
Significant Increase in Net Sales (like-for-like)
+ 10,9% to € 5,1bn, crossing the € 5bn sales mark for the first time in Greenyard’s 40-year history.
Impressive Growth in Adjusted EBITDA
With an 11,5% growth, Adjusted EBITDA increased even faster than net sales, landing at € 186,5m, above earlier guidance of € 175-€ 180m.
Substantial Increase in Net Result and EPS
The Net result increased by 63% to € 15,2m resulting in an increase of EPS from 16cts to 28cts.
Reduction in Net Financial Debt
The Net Financial Debt drops by another 4% to € 266,3m, despite the impact of inflation on the value of the inventories and more investments.
Improved Leverage Ratio
The leverage of the Group dropped below 2,00x to 1,87x.
Proposed Dividend Increase
Greenyard’s Board of Directors will present to its shareholders at the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting on 20 September 2024 its proposal to increase the dividend by 150% from € 0,10 to € 0,25 per share for the full year ended March 2024.
Future Projections
Greenyard reiterates its estimates to reach net sales of € 5,4bn and an Adjusted EBITDA of € 200-210m by full year 2025-2026 (financial year ending in March 2026).
CEO's Statement
Francis Kint, CEO said: “We are very proud to realise these results in a challenging environment, characterised by a second year of inflation. Greenyard improved both in volume and prices.
The Long Fresh segment (frozen and ambient fruit and vegetable product categories) reached sales just shy of the € 1bn sales mark, whilst further strengthening the operational profitability margin. This is the result of a successful expansion in value-added convenience products, e.g., by adding a line of frozen pure-plant gelato products. In turn, the Fresh segment has continued to expand its business with key ICR customers (ICR stands for Integrated Customer Relationships).
Both segments benefit from the trend of consumers seeking to increase the intake of fruit and vegetables in all its forms, to eat healthier and consume food that is produced in sustainable food chains. The achievements during this fiscal year and our plans to increase margins by focusing even more on our strongest business units, makes us confident to reach the € 200m-€ 210m Adjusted EBITDA level by full year 2025/26.”
Sales Growth
Greenyard sales increased with 10,9% or € 496,6m on a like-for-like basis, from € 4 575,8m to € 5 072,4m. The growth is driven by both volume growth of +2,7% and price increases (+7,3%), the latter to cover higher input costs.
Adjusted EBITDA Growth
The Adjusted EBITDA increased with € 19,2m from € 167,3m to € 186,5m which represents a growth of 11,5%. Greenyard was able to successfully increase its operational profitability in absolute terms thanks to high crop yields in Long Fresh, further process efficiency and growth within its unique Integrated Customer Relationships. This evidences the success and resilience of the business model in an economic context marked by inflation, consumer purchasing power reduction and climate change.
Net Result Increase
Greenyard reports a net result that increased by 63% from € 9,3m in the same period last year to € 15,2m thanks to the improved operating result and limited non-recurring costs partly compensated by the gain on the sale of assets in Brazil and UK. The increase of the operational result has been partly offset by higher interest costs.
Net Financial Debt Reduction
Net Financial Debt (NFD) was significantly reduced by € 11,0m compared to 31 March 2023, to € 266,3m on 31 March 2024. This translates into a leverage of 1,87x, down from 2,19x on 31 March 2023. This result was achieved thanks to the increased operational result and the successful management of the cash conversion cycle, despite the increase in inventory and the increased investments.
CFO's Statement
Nicolas De Clercq, CFO said: “The Company has again shown a strong performance, particularly in these challenging market circumstances. There is an impact of inflation on the inventory levels, however, thanks to the strong working capital management, the net debt decreased. Also, the increased interest rates had an important impact on the financial cost, but thanks to the increased operational result, net profit increased to € 15,2 million. Volume grew further and inflation could be charged through in most cases, which creates a promising platform for further growth of the result and cash flow of the Group.”
Read the full press statement via this link.