Total volumes were up by 2.4% in Q3, with prices up by 3.2% and acquisitions adding 11.3%. Ireland-based Glanbia acquired Watson Nutritionals earlier this year, which bolstered NS revenue by 12.2%.
There was ‘good growth’ across global dairy and non-dairy solutions this quarter, including a 3.9% price increase. Watson has helped to expand the NS supply chain footprint and bring added technical capability into NS, Glanbia said.
More demand for healthy snacking solutions was a growth driver behind NS in Q3. The US is a key market for NS, and Glanbia is focusing on expanding its brand reach in non-US markets in the near future.
“For full year 2019 NS expects to deliver continued strong volume momentum across the dairy and non-dairy platforms as well as a contribution from the Watson acquisition,” Glanbia said.
“Full year pricing is expected to be positive reflecting higher year on year dairy markets in North America.”
The US Cheese division of Glanbia produces American-style cheddar cheese and also operates all of the dairy processing plants within Glanbia Nutritionals. US Cheese revenue is up by 13.8% so far in 2019, with volume growth of 7.4%.
The GPN division posted unexpected results in Q3, offsetting the success of NS. In late 2018, Glanbia acquired SlimFast in GPN, which added a 25.8% revenue increase compared to a year ago. But a price decline of 1.4% and a volume decline of 7.9% dropped GPN revenues.
Siobhán Talbot, group managing director, said, “In GPN while we are very pleased with the performance of the SlimFast acquisition our like-for-like volume performance is disappointing. This is largely driven by specific challenges in key non-US markets. We are actively addressing the issues in these markets as they represent a compelling long term growth opportunity for the Group.”
Glanbia said its direct-to-consumer online platform has been enhanced in Europe and the Body & Fit brand is being rolled out across the region. In North America consumption in the specialty channel has been positive in 2019, with price increases implemented in Q3.
“The like-for-like revenue decline in GPN reflects on-going challenges in EU, Middle East, Brazil and India as well as lower activity in the Club channel in the US in 2019 versus the prior year. The SlimFast acquisition is expected to have a very strong year as a result of growth across multiple product formats and successful innovation,” Glanbia said.