Hi °C | Lo °C ALMOST a year since taking over Irish food firm Cully & Sully, US group Hain Celestial's financial performance is cooking up nicely.
Releasing quarterly results for the three months to the end of December just recently, Hain Celestial said its net sales for the period were just over $455m – a near 25pc increase on the final calendar quarter of 2011.
Its gross profit also rose by 25pc, to $104.6m. Hain Celestial said sales improved primarily due to the group's performance in the United States, while its acquisition of UK business Daniels also boosted the figure. Profits were bolstered by a "favourable mix of product sales and productivity improvements".
Hain Celestial paid a mouth-watering €10.5m in cash for the Cully & Sully business, which was founded by Colum O'Sullivan and Cullen Allen – a nephew of Ballymaloe chef Darina and grandson of Myrtle Allen – in 2004.
Hain Celestial also agreed to pay up to an additional €4.5m to the two founders based on certain targets being achieved by next year.
Unfortunately, the Hain Celestial accounts don't tell us just how the Cully & Sully brand has performed since it was acquired.
But the group has already been looking for synergies. Last year, it transferred some of the Cully & Sully soup-making activities to a Hain Celestial facility in the UK. The soups had been made in Ireland by Glanbia. It will be interesting to see how the Cully & Sully push in to the US market will go.
It seems Cully and Sully will be working hard to earn their additional €4.5m payout.
Irish Independent
