Dublin, Nov 13 - Irish food company Kerry Group Plc said on Thursday it expected 2008 earnings to come in at the upper end of a range given earlier this year despite tougher economic conditions.
Kerry, whose brands include Wall's sausages, Homepride flour and Cheesestrings snacks, had first given guidance for full-year earnings of 151 to 155 cents per share in February.
"The group expects a good outturn for 2008 despite challenging economic conditions in many countries and the continued adverse impact of currency translation," it said.
"We expect earnings for the full year to increase to the upper end of the range of 151 cent to 155 cent per share forecast at the start of the year," it said in a trading statement.
Kerry said the underlying performance of its global ingredients and flavours businesses remained solid in the four months to end October delivering mid-single digit like-for-like revenue and trading profit growth.
The group, said trading conditions in the UK and Irish consumer food markets continued to be impacted by the weakening economic environment and currency movements.
"Despite the appreciation of the dollar/euro exchange rate, the continued depreciation of the sterling/euro exchange rate adversely impacted reported revenues and profits in the period," it said.
Nevertheless its consumer foods division achieved like-for-like revenue growth of 4 percent in the four-month period since the end of June, it said.
Shares in Kerry were trading 0.5 percent higher by 1231 GMT at 16.89 euros, slightly above a 0.4 percent gain on the wider Irish market. Its shares in London rose 1.2 percent.