20th Feb 2019 08:58
LONDON (Alliance News) - Glanbia PLC on Wednesday reported a 16% increase in full-year profit and said it has agreed to acquire Watson Inc and Polymer Films Inc for USD89 million in cash.
The acquisition of US based non-dairy ingredient business Watson and Polymer, known collectively as Watson, will be complementary to Glambia's Nutritional Solutions division, the company said. It is anticipated that the transaction will close by second quarter of 2019.
In addition, Glanbia said Mary Minnick and Richard Laube will join the board as independent non-executive directors on May 1.
Minnick was previously a partner of private equity firm Lion Capital LLP, while Laube was chief executive of medical device company Nobel Biocare. The company said it intends to appoint one more independent non-executive director during 2019.
Also, Senior Independent Director & Head of Performance Nutrition division Hugh McGuire and Chief Executive of Nutritionals Brian Phelan have decided not to stand for re-election at the annual general meeting.
Their key executive roles are unaltered, Glambia said. Following Haran's retirement, Dan O'Connor will take up the position of senior independent director.
Turning to the results, the Irish sports nutrition company said pretax profit grew to EUR266.8 million in the year to December 29, 2018, compared to EUR229.7 million reported the year before, while revenue remained broadly flat at EUR2.39 billion.
On a constant currency basis, revenue improved by 4.1%, with Glanbia generating over 80% of its revenue in US dollars.
Glambia highlighted that sales volumes improved by 6.7% during the year, but this was offset by a decrease in its product prices by an average 4.7%.
"Consumer demand for our brands and nutritional ingredients remains strong underpinned by positive long-term global health and wellness trends," explained Managing Director Siobhan Talbot.
The company declared a final dividend of 14.49 cents per share, which brings the total dividend for the year to 24.20 cents, a 10% increase on the prior year.
"The outlook for 2019 is positive and Glanbia expects to deliver 5% to 8% growth in adjusted earnings per share, constant currency," said Talbot.
Glanbia shares were trading 9.4% higher on Wednesday at EUR17.74 each.
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