Heinz: UK profit rockets despite ketchup and baked beans battles
Profit has nearly doubled at the UK arm of Heinz despite “strong competition” from rivals to its sauces and beans categories.
The London-headquartered division of the US giant has reported a pre-tax profit of £191.9m for 2024, according to new accounts filed with Companies House.
The total is up from the £104.1m it achieved in 2023.
However, despite the rise in profit, Heinz’s UK revenue dipped from £967.1m to £952.7m over the same period.
The results for its UK business come after The Kraft Heinz Company announced earlier this month that it that it planned to separate into two businesses.
Heinz expecting ‘challenges’ in 2025
A statement signed off by the board said Heinz had “delivered a solid performance” in the year.
It added: “Despite a slight decline in volume (0.3 per cent) and net sales value (1.5 per cent), we’ve seen stabilisation in volumes after two years of decline due to the cost price increases to offset post-Covid cost inflation.
“This is largely due to our strategic reinvestment in pricing and marketing efforts since the second half of 2023.
“However, we faced strong competition in the sauces and beans categories which impacted our performance.
“On a positive note, our innovation plans yielded strong results, accounting for 4.5 per cent of our net sales value.
“Additionally, our away from home business grew by over four per cent compared to 2023.
“We also saw positive results in profit as we closed the year growing more than two per cent driven by operational savings in procurement and general cost reductions.”
On its future, Heinz said: “In 2025, we expect to face a few challenges given the macro-economic context.
“This is mainly due to a decline in category momentum and the delist of a few non-priority product lines from our range.
“Additionally, challenging regularity environment with implementation of extended producer responsibility will put pressure on the cost base.
“However, we’re expecting a positive trend in consumer metrics, with market share remaining stable and household penetration growing.
“This is driven by our promotional efforts in the meals range and increased media investments across our core portfolio.”