Ornua operating profit up 21% in 2019
Ornua has revealed its operating and financial results for year ended 2019, revealing a “strong performance”, with operating profit up 21.5%.
The results, released today, Wednesday, April 8, show a strong strong trading performance in 2019 for Ornua, with group turnover increasing by 11.5%, reaching €2.3 billion.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) stood at €71.8 million, up 18.7%, and the group’s operating profit stood at €49.1 million, an increase of 21.5%.
This performance was achieved against a backdrop of significant external challenges and places Ornua in a strong financial position to manage the unprecedented challenges presented by Covid-19.
Among the key highlights of 2019 for Ornua was Kerrygold becoming Ireland’s first food brand to reach €1 billion in annual retail sales.
Ornua also purchased 340,000MT of Irish co-op’s dairy products, to a value of over €1 billion.
It also paid out €18.5 million in brand premium for Kerrygold to member co-ops.
Commenting on these results, John Jordan, CEO of Ornua, said: “We are pleased to report a strong trading performance for 2019, despite a challenging global environment characterised by economic uncertainty due to US tariffs, Brexit and market volatility.
“Post year-end, this trading complexity has increased significantly due to the impact of the global Covid-19 pandemic,” Jordan highlighted.
Speaking specifically about the Covid-19 outbreak, Jordan commented: “Our key focus for 2020 is to support our 2,400-strong team, our customers, our member co-ops and farmers as we face the challenges of Covid-19 together.
“We are firmly focused on protecting the health and safety of our people; keeping our factories running safely to serve our customers; and ensuring markets for Irish dairy remain open,” he highlighted.
“This will see Ornua carry the risk and cost of stockholding on behalf of our members, going some way towards providing a level of security in these uncertain times,” Jordan argued.
“We are also working hard to maximise Kerrygold premium returns to enable us to continue to deliver strong product prices to our members, and in turn Irish dairy farmers,” he added.
Ornua said that Covid-19 was “severely impacting market sentiment”. Consumer usage has apparently “changed overnight” with people cooking and baking at home.
This is accompanied by a decrease in consumption of dairy products worldwide, Ornua said.
In other ways to keep the supply chain operating, the business has introduced a number of measures.
