Canada’s Maple Leaf Foods is guiding to an improvement in EBITDA in the new year but growth is expected to be slower than 2025.

Reporting annual results today (5 March), the meat and protein-alternatives supplier forecast an adjusted EBITDA print of C$520-540m ($381-395m), which on the top side would imply a 13% increase on fiscal 2025.

Adjusted EBITDA rose 21% in the year just completed to C$476m, while the margin climbed 140 basis points to 12.2%.

Revenue growth and “margin improvement from operational discipline and the benefits from the company's ‘Fuel for Growth’ initiative” would provide the stimulus to the EBITDA uptick, Maple Leaf said.

However, sales revenue in the new year is estimated to be in the mid-single-digit range, suggesting a smaller increase than the 7.7% rise in the 2025 financial year to C$3.91bn.

Maple Leaf spun off its pork operations last year into a separate entity - Canada Packers – leaving poultry and prepared foods, including the alternative-protein brands Field Roast and Lightlife.

Prepared foods accounted for 75% of sales last year and the remainder for poultry as Maple Leaf reported net income surged to C$541.6m from C$96.6m a year earlier. Adjusted EPS climbed to C$1.09 from C$0.15.

The company said prepared foods sales increased by 6.5%, driven by pricing, improved mix, and volume growth, offset by higher trade promotions.

Poultry sales rose 10.8% on improved channel mix linked to retail and foodservice volume growth and pricing.

President and CEO Curtis Frank said today: “We are now seeing the tangible benefits of our transformation into a simpler, purpose-driven, protein-centric, brand-led CPG company.

“The strength of our portfolio of leading brands, the resilience of our proven growth platforms, and the returns from major capital projects and initiatives such as Fuel for Growth are driving margin expansion and improving consistency across the business."

Representative of the challenges, the company added: “Maple Leaf Foods recognises that macro-economic factors may continue to strongly influence the operating environment, creating uncertainty and potential volatility.

“This has a number of implications for the company's business, including the influence these dynamics have on consumer sentiment, supply chain activity, access to markets, barriers to trade, and foreign-exchange rates.”

"Maple Leaf Foods points to EBITDA improvement but slower pace" was originally created and published by Just Food, a GlobalData owned brand.

 

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