Irish food group Glanbia today (13 May) booked a 17% jump in first-quarter sales thanks to a bumper three months for its performance nutrition division.

The owner of brands including Optimum Nutrition whey powder saw sales from the business unit leap 38% in the period to 5 April.

Glanbia said the result was against a “relatively soft quarter in 2013” but analysts cheered the division’s performance.

“Thirty-eight per cent revenue growth, almost entirely volume-driven, was an exceptional performance,” Davy Research analyst Jack Gorman said.

Glanbia said the division’s growth rate would “moderate” during the year as it laps last year’s results but indicated it expects its business to outpace the market.

The first-quarter performance from Glanbia’s largest unit by sales – global ingredients – was less stellar. Revenues were up 10% but price hikes offset lower volumes.

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Sales from Glanbia’s Irish dairy arm, which includes consumer brands like Avonmore milk, were “broadly in line” with a year earlier, it said.

The company stuck to its forecast for annual adjusted earnings per share to rise 8-10%.

Shares in Glanbia were up 1.46% at 09:07 BST.