Birds Eye fish fingers. (Photo Credit: Birds Eye)

Iglo Group increases sales despite ‘challenging’ market

Europe’s leading frozen foods business Iglo Group reported net sales 2.7 per cent increase year-on-year in the third quarter 2014 and an EBITDA growth by 9.7 per cent year-on-year. The group highlighted it achieved these results despite the ‘tough’ market conditions that continue to impact the sector with consumer spending under pressure across all European markets.

As a consequence of this situation, the frozen foods category declined by 0.4 per cent in the third quarter.

Nevertheless, the Group’s chief executive Elio Leoni Sceti pointed out: "Against this background, Iglo has delivered value share growth in 8 out of 11 markets. We have invested in our new campaign to support not only the core but also to drive the launch of our new innovations”.

Despite the decline in the frozen product market, Iglo deems it “encouraging” that its Italian business has recorded a 12th successive month of net sales growth and a value share rise of 0.4 per cent in Q3 as a whole.

“While we expect markets in the final quarter of the year to remain challenging, we are confident that our Better Meals Together strategy will drive consumer interest in the frozen food category as we invest in the strength of our brand,” Sceti remarked.

The executive stressed that the launch of innovative products in the Seafood and Pyramid Meals categories in Italy has been successful. In addition, the Inspirations platform launched in the second quarter under the Birds Eye brand continued to gain momentum with net sales of the newly launched products under that range of nearly EUR 6 million in Q3 and EUR 13 million in the year to date.

Furthermore, the key product launch of the quarter has been the new Steamfresh platform in the UK and Austrian markets, which combines strong existing ranges, such as Rice and Vegetable Fusions, with newly launched products, such as pasta-based dishes and vegetable mixes.

The Group has announced the conclusion of its review of its geographical footprint. As a result of this review, the Group plans to cease marketing its products in Romania, Slovakia and Turkey where the frozen category is small in terms of the overall grocery market. Sales to these three countries are considered immaterial to the Group and so are not expected to have a significant impact on the overall financial performance of the Group.

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