Global nutrition group Glanbia increased net profit by 16% in 2021 as turnover increased by 10% to €4.2bn

The company is paying a final dividend of 17.5c per share, bringing the total dividend for the year to 29.3c, a 10% increase on the prior year.

The total dividend represents a payout of one third of net earnings.

Last year Glanbia bought back 2.5% of its issued shares at a cost of €91m. The buyback activity has continued into 2022, with €73m returned to shareholders year to date.

The company has announced its intention to implement another €50m of share buybacks from May 2022.

In Association with

Excluding the profit contribution from the divested Glanbia Ireland milk business, earnings per share grew by 18% to 48c.

Group managing director Siobhán Talbot said earnings growth was well ahead of her expectation at the beginning of 2021 and was driven by strong global consumer demand in Glanbia’s areas of nutrition expertise across ingredient solutions and our portfolio of nutrition brands.

Talbot added: “Our robust and effective operational execution delivered an excellent cash performance. GPN has delivered in excess of its initial margin improvement target on the transformation programme and added the German based LevlUp brand to our portfolio.

“GN NS expanded our healthy snacking capability with the acquisition of PacMoore, and we successfully commissioned a large-scale joint venture cheese and whey plant in Michigan.

"Furthermore we agreed the disposal of the plc’s interest in Glanbia Ireland to Glanbia Co-operative Society for €307m, reinforcing our focus on the GPN and GN NS growth platforms.

“Our clear strategic focus for 2022 and beyond is to drive growth across both GPN and GN NS as the nutrition partner of choice to our customers and consumers.”

In the annual results statement, Talbot referenced the ongoing impact of cost inflation, especially dairy-related. She signalled that earnings growth through 2022 will be c.5% on an adjusted basis.