Mexico City, Mexico, April 23, 2015 – Grupo Herdez, S.A.B. de C.V. (“Grupo Herdez” or the “Company”) (MSE: HERDEZ, OTC: GUZBY), today announced results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2015. As of March 1, 2015, Grupo Herdez financial statements
include Helados Nestlé’s results, which are integrated in the new Frozen division along with those of Nutrisa.
“The first three months of the year showed strong continued momentum, with across the board growth in Mexico core. We continue to be cautiously optimistic about the rest of the year,”
said Héctor Hernández-Pons Torres, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
Highlights from the quarter:
- Consolidated net sales rose 14.4% primarily due to strong results in Mexico core.
- EBIT and EBITDA margins were 16.6% and 18.8%, respectively.
- Consolidated net income increased 37.8% to Ps. 436 million.
- Nutrisa ended the quarter with 433 stores.
Net Sales
Net sales in the first three months of the year rose 14.4% from the year ago period, to Ps. 3,719 million. Approximately 3 percentage points of this growth is attributable to the incorporation of Helados Nestlé as of March 1, 2015.
In Mexico core, net sales grew 16.4%, extending strong performance seen since the second half of last year resulting from the Company’s efforts to boost volume performance, as well as the positive calendar effect. The best performing categories were canned vegetables, jam, mayonnaise, mole, tea and tuna. Export sales declined 8.8% when compared to the same period of last year as a result of sluggish sales at MegaMex as well as inventory adjustments. The 14.8% growth in the Frozen division reflects the incorporation of Helados Nestlé as of March 1, 2015, while sales at Nutrisa continue to be impacted by the product rationalization process begun in April of 2014.