© Refresco/Richard Sinon
Strong growth in Refresco Gerber’s co-packing business has driven improvement in its adjusted net profit figures for the second quarter of the year.
Second quarter volume of 1.67bn litres shows organic growth of 0.8% compared to the same period last year, while adjusted earnings before interest and tax of €67.6m represents an increase of €1m on the same period in 2014. Total revenue fell slightly from €550.2m to €548.4m year on year.
But the highlight of the newly released figures was an increase in the share of Refresco Gerber’s co-packing operation, helping to close the gap with its private label business from 18.5%:81.5% to 21.5%:78.5%.
The news follows the release of the soft drinks bottler’s first full-year results since the merger of its two constituent parts in March.
Refresco Gerber CEO Hans Roelofs said: “In the first half of 2015 we realised a 1.2% organic growth in volume, in line with the general market trend. Growth was mainly driven by our co-packing business where we realised an increase of 12.5% in volume compared to the first half of last year. This increase in co-packing has enabled us to maintain a strong gross profit margin per litre, the key indicator in development of our business.
“The second and third quarters, based on volume, are traditionally our strongest period of the year, driven by summer weather demand. Typically the average gross profit margin per litre comes down slightly due to a shift in product mix. This year the summer weather did not come through until the end of June. With the absence of the product mix shift this has resulted in a slightly disappointing market volume development and a better gross profit margin per litre.
“Revenue showed a slight decrease. Change in revenue is mostly driven by fluctuations in input prices which are passed on to customers, and is therefore not a representative indicator for the development of our business. Volumes developed positively and we maintained gross profit margin per litre at Q1 levels, resulting in a solid adjusted EBITDA for the period under review.”
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