Ferrero posts strong annual results following major investment in global operations
Ferrero has delivered an upturn in its financial performance, as the company’s annual results revealed a 8.9% year-on-year increase in turnover to €18.4 billion, driven by broad category growth, reports Neill Barston.
Its continued development has been attained despite considerable market uncertainty, having centred on several core achievements including product expansion, namely with the successful launch of Nutella Ice Cream, as well as celebrating a vegan version of the brand, which turned 60 in the past few months.
There were also a number of other milestones for the business in the past year, including the opening of its first chocolate processing plant in the US. The new 70,000 square feet facility in Bloomington, Illinois produces chocolate for Ferrero leading brands in North America, including Kinder, Ferrero Rocher, Butterfinger, and CRUNCH, and now houses a new Kinder Bueno production facility.
In addition, the company also completed modernisation work on its Stadtallendorf production facilities in Germany serving the European market, and it also developed its hazelnut sourcing and processing capacity in Chile.
Notably, the company played its part as a keynote for our World Confectionery Conference in Brussels, and will be returning to the Belgian capital again this year on September 11 to be part of our latest edition of the event (visit confectioneryconference.com for details). See our recent exclusive video with Francesco Tramontin below.
Executive Chairman Giovanni Ferrero and executed by Chief Executive Officer Lapo Civiletti had outlined a growth strategy for the business, which has included capital investment for the financial year saw an increase of 18% to EUR958 million, including in the United States, Italy, Germany and Chile.
As the business acknowledged, 2023/2024 financial year was again marked by a challenging economic environment, with volatile commodity prices and continued inflationary pressures. Despite this, the Ferrero Group continued its strong growth thanks to the resilience of its people, brands and business model. Ferrero maintains its global presence, with 37 manufacturing plants, and ended the financial year with a global workforce reaching 47,517 as of August 31, 2024.
Daniel Martinez Carretero, Chief Financial Officer at Ferrero Group, welcomed the positive results. He said: “We are pleased to report another strong year of growth for the Group, despite the continued headwinds the industry is facing. Although the economic environment remains complex, our brands and products continue to perform well. This is testament to the way we continue to innovate our products to meet the changing needs of consumers. To spur this innovation on and to increase our manufacturing capabilities, this financial year saw us increase total capital investment by 18% on the previous period.”
