Iglo struggles after difficult year

Horse meat scandal

The Belgian issue still stems from the horse meat scandal, when 8 meals had to be taken out of stores. As these were made by Belgian manufacturer Frigilunch, the biggest impact was felt in this particular market. The Belgian numbers have apparently dropped below 2009’s level, which was already a bad year for Iglo.

Italy also struggled, as Findus Italy failed to live up to the sales expectations, even though the final quarter resulted in a tiny turnover growth. It bought Findus back in 2010 for 805 million euro from Unilever.

Iglo has remained below expectations in other markets as well, with the 2013 turnover dropping 2.8 % to 1.52 billion euro. Ebitda numbers are 12 % lower, at 306.6 million euro, which Iglo blames on the economic situation. That meant that consumers spend less on food and resort to private labels.