Udder truth

16 February 2021 By Dasha Afanasieva Follow @dasha_reuters

A sleuth of bears has accused the Irish maker of Wall’s sausages of overstating the value of acquisitions. The 19 bln euro firm dismissed the criticism and powered ahead with its shopping. But to close the valuation gap with rival Givaudan, a more transparent rebuttal is needed.

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Kerry Group, the Irish food and ingredients company, on Feb. 16 said its 2020 revenue fell 4% to 7 billion euros from the year before. Operating profit fell to 708 million euros from 728 million euros in 2019.

The 19 billion euro group is also undertaking a strategic review of its dairy business in Britain and Ireland, which may lead to a transaction in the coming months, Chief Executive Edmond Scanlon told Reuters. The review will consider dairy production and consumer food assets with annual revenue of around 900 million euros.

On Feb. 11, Kerry shares fell as much as 12% after short-seller Ontake Research criticised the firm’s track record on acquisitions.

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