Glanbia has reported a “strong” third quarter on the back of good demand across its portfolio, while it increased its prices in response to inflation.

The global nutrition group said it continues to navigate the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic “well” delivering strong volume growth in the third quarter with its plants operating to plan, according to a trading update.

The group added that it has implemented price increases in response to cost inflation.

Next year both Glanbia Performance Nutrition (GPN) and Glanbia Nutritionals (GN) are expected to mitigate inflation by further price increases, volume growth and the realisation of benefits from the GPN transformation programme, the company said.

The Kilkenny-headquartered group now expects to its adjusted earnings per share growth for this year to be in the upper end of 17pc to 22pc.

The company’s quarter three year-to-date wholly-owned revenues are up 15.7pc on a constant currency basis (up 9.7pc reported) versus prior year due to good demand across both Glanbia Performance Nutrition (GPN) and Glanbia Nutritionals (GN).

GPN delivered revenue growth in the period up 23.2pc on a constant currency basis with like-for-like branded revenue growth of 25.2pc. This was driven by a “strong performance” in nutrition consumption trends across the Americas and internationally, which continued in the third quarter.

GN Nutritional Solutions (NS) delivered volume growth in the period up 15.7pc on a constant currency basis driven by “strong” ongoing customer demand for micro-nutrients and healthy snacks.

The company had net debt at the end of its third quarter of €589m, a decrease of €39.1m compared to the net debt position in the prior year.

"In the first nine months of 2021 Glanbia grew its wholly-owned revenue by 15.7pc on a constant currency basis,” Siobhán Talbot, MD of Glanbia, said.

“This was driven by strong demand across our portfolio as GPN grew like-for-like branded revenue by 25.2pc and NS grew like-for-like volume by 15.7pc. We continue to make progress on our strategic initiatives,” Ms Talbot added.

The company said it remains vigilant to the continued volatile and disruptive potential of the Covid-19 pandemic, nonetheless, its plants across the group have operated well throughout the year responding swiftly to the strong demand across both GPN and GN.