Dublin / IE. (iaws) The Irish IAWS Group PLC issues its first third quarter Interim Management Statement in accordance with the reporting requirements of the Transparency Regulations 2007. IAWS is an international Lifestyle Food and Agri company with operations in Europe and North America. The Lifestyle Food business focuses on niche high quality growth segments of the value added bakery and convenience food market. Origin Enterprises PLC, which consists of the Group´s original Agri-Nutrition and ambient food businesses, was successfully listed in June 2007, raising 100 million EUR of development capital. IAWS remains the majority shareholder of Origin and therefore consolidates its results. Some highlights of the nine month period ended 26th April 2008:
- Group revenue of 1,9 billion EUR; an increase of 34,7 percent
- Underlying Group revenue growth, excluding the impact of acquisitions and foreign exchange movements, of 19.2 percent
- All business segments contributed to operating performance
- Operating profit margin maintained throughout the Group
CEO Owen Killian: «I am pleased to say that IAWS has further built on the strong performance we reported at our Interim Results announcement. The nine months to April 26th 2008 have delivered excellent revenue and operating profit growth and we continue to see strong underlying growth across all segments of the business. I am particularly encouraged by the strategic development and performance of Origin since its IPO. This level of performance and development would not have been possible without access to capital which was facilitated by the Origin IPO».
Operating Performance: Group revenues increased by 34,7 percent, to 1,9 billion EUR over the period. Group underlying revenue growth, which excludes the impact of acquisitions and foreign exchange movements, was 19,2 percent. The Lifestyle Foods business saw a continuation of the robust rate of underlying revenue growth that was reported in the Interim Results announcement, with growth of eleven percent over the period. Notably, both Food Europe and Food North America contributed to this very strong performance, with Food Europe posting 10,5 percent growth and Food North America delivering 11,9 percent underlying revenue growth. Meanwhile Origin posted underlying revenue growth of 27,9 percent for the period. Operating profit margin has been maintained throughout the group in the period.
Financial Position: IAWS continues to have a strong balance sheet and excellent free cash flow generation to fund organic growth and acquisitions. The construction of the Group´s new world class bakery and innovation centre at Grangecastle continues to plan with 135,1 million EUR spent on the facility as at 26th April 2008. Masstock Group Holdings Limited was acquired by Origin in February 2008 and funded by Origin from its own standalone bank facilities (source).
