Positive financial results for the fourth quarter and 12-month period ending on December 31, 2018, have given Nomad Foods executives and stockholders reason to smile. Shares, which trade on the New York Stock Exchange, closed at $21.05 on March 1, up appreciably from $16.24 on March 5, 2018.
Sales surged 21% to £615 million on organic revenue growth of 4.2% in Q4 2018, while annual receipts of £2,173 million registered an organic sales gain of 2.6% and an overall uptick of 11%. Acquisitions of Goodfella’s frozen pizza and Aunt Bessie’s brands in the UK boosted revenue growth by 17.3%.
“We delivered a solid end to 2018, with fourth quarter and full year results exceeding our prior guidance. Performance during both periods reflected broad based geographic growth, continued leadership within our core categories and strong customer acceptance of our new product offerings,” said CEO Stéfan Descheemaeker, chief executive officer of the Feltham, England-headquartered company whose major frozen food retail brands of Birds Eye, Iglo and Findus ring up approximately 75% of total sales in the UK, Italy, Germany, France and Sweden.
Expressing satisfaction with progress made in integrating Goodfella’s and Aunt Bessie’s into the portfolio, each of which have outperformed expectations since being acquired in the middle of 2018, the ceo added: “Finally, we generated significant cash flow during the fourth quarter and the year which will further enable our growth ambitions for 2019 and beyond.”
Noam Gottesman, Nomad Foods’ Co-Chairman and Founder, further commented: “Our 2018 financial results mark another year of organic growth for Nomad Foods which demonstrates the sustainability of our growth model, the power of our brands, and the quality and determination of our people. We have an exciting set of plans for 2019, and look forward to building shareholder value through sustainable growth, cash flow generation and accretive capital deployment.”
Full year 2019 Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be about €420 to €430 million, inclusive of approximately €15 million of anticipated benefit related to International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 16. This equates to expected 2019 Adjusted EBITDA growth of approximately 8-10% before the effect of IFRS 16.
Adjusted EPS is expected to be in the range of approximately €1.28 to €1.32, inclusive of approximately €0.02 of anticipated dilution related to IFRS 16. Full year guidance assumes organic revenue growth at a low-single digits percentage rate.
