Revenues at Cuisine de France maker Aryzta fell in the first quarter of the year, as the food group continues to struggle with its US operations.
Revenues at the Swiss-Irish group fell by 5.5 per cent in the three months to October 31st 2017 to €909.7 million,as currency had a negative impact of 2.9 per cent on revenue.
In his first quarterly update as chief executive, Kevin Toland, who assumed the role in September, said that the business challenges are "unchanged" from those outlined in September.
“Europe continues to perform to expectation, including Germany, with broadly based growth across the region offsetting planned Swiss in-sourcing. Progress at Cloverhill in North America is proving difficult. Management’s priority is to continue to identify issues and opportunities to address operating performance and to maximise available free cash flow,” he said.
In Europe, Aryzta saw revenues rise by 0.6 per cent, despite the expected reduction from Swiss in-sourcing, while the rest of the world saw strong organic growth of 7.8 per cent, although it was offset by a negative currency impact of 5.3 per cent. However organic revenue in North America dropped by 7 per cent in the period, “driven entirely” by Cloverhill.
Aryzta acquired Illinois based Cloverhill Bakery in 2014, and earlier this year disclosed it took a € 860 million impairment charge against its assets, mainly Cloverhill.
