US nutrition business BellRing Brands continues to ride the waves of a protein boom that shows no sign of abating.
It has upped its sales and earnings guidance for fiscal 2024 after releasing a set of Q3 financials that outperformed its own expectations.
The Premier Protein shake and Dymatize protein powder brands owner also saw margin improvement as input costs fell.
BellRing recorded net sales of $514.4m, up 15.6% year-on-year, and operating profit of $111.6m (up 46.8%). Adjusted EBITDA of $119.5m was up 37.5%.
On the back of those results, it is now forecasting net sales of $1.96bn to $2bn for fiscal year 2024, against previous guidance of $1.93bn to $1.99bn.
It is expecting adjusted EBITDA of $430m to $440m, against previous estimates of $400m to $420m.
CEO and president Darcy Davenport said: “We are pleased with our third-quarter performance, with results ahead of our expectations and shake production delivering to plan. Premier Protein achieved all-time highs for household penetration and shake distribution points as we broaden our formats and package sizes.
“Consumption growth for Premier Protein shakes was strong and accelerated in June and continued into July on better in stocks and distribution gains,” adding, “we saw greater-than-expected margins primarily lifted by favourability in powder input costs”.
The company saw an 18.4% increase in volume in the period driven by “organic growth and distribution gains” in the case of Premier Protein.
However, Dymatize protein powder net sales decreased by 2.6%. It saw a 4.4% increase in volume but this was offset by a 7.0% decrease in price/mix. The volume gains were driven by strength in the international channel, whereas the decrease in price/mix was driven by promotional activity and “unfavourable” mix.
Reacting to the results, John Baumgartner, an analyst with Mizuho Securities, said: “Another solid delivery and likely upside bias to Q4.
“Despite the market's concerns over recent takeaway data, larger shipments coincident with growth in distribution points drove a solid revenue beat. Premier performance remains robust, across shakes and powder”.
