Group revenue at Kerry Group increased on a reported basis by 1.4% to €3.2 billion in the first six months of 2018.
"Evolving consumer trends and the changing marketplace have provided increased opportunities and demand for Kerry's industry-leading RD&A and broad technology portfolio," said Edmond Scanlon, Kerry CEO.
"This, along with the Group's enhanced end-use market focus, drove healthy volume growth and underlying margin expansion in the first half of 2018. We also continued to make progress with and invest in business development initiatives aligned with our strategic growth priorities.
Taste & Nutrition delivered 4.1% volume growth and Consumer Foods' business volumes increased by 1.3%. Both areas saw an increase in pricing.
Group trading margin reduced by 10 basis points to 10.5%, reflecting a 10 basis points improvement in Taste & Nutrition, positive underlying margin improvement in Consumer Foods offset by adverse sterling exchange rates resulting in a 60 basis points margin reduction.
Kerry said that its growth prospects for the full year 'remain strong due to a good innovation pipeline'. It said that it will continue to invest in business development aligned to strategic growth priorities.
"In light of the above, we update our guidance and now expect to achieve growth in adjusted earnings per share of 7% to 10% in constant currency," Scanlon concluded.