Publicly traded food and beverage companies in Ireland will benefit in the second half of 2009 from a stabilisation in consumer spending and acquisitions, a report said today.
The eight companies in the group, which includes Kerry Group, have "reasonably strong balance sheets" and acquisitions are possible in the second-half of the year, analyst Joe Gill with Bloxham Stockbrokers wrote in a report
published today.
Irish food companies "largely avoided the expensive deals that were fuelled by loose credit", prior to the global credit crisis, Mr Gill said. "They are therefore well positioned to exploit the opportunities that exist amid
the recession and credit crisis."
The report predicted consumer spending will stabilise in the second-half of 2009 and into 2010 while the pound's recovery against the euro in the first-half of the year will help Irish food companies, including C&C Group, export at a more competitive rate to the UK market, Mr Gill said
The eight companies have added 32 per cent to their value on the Iseq index since Bloxham's last report on the industry in February, Mr Gill said.
Bloomberg