MADRID, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Spain's Ebro Foods reported on Thursday a 36% jump in annual profit, with its rice and pasta products particularly popular as coronavirus restrictions forced people to eat more at home.
The owner of brands such as Tilda rice in Britain and pasta makes Garofalo in Italy and Panzani in France, said that its sales increased 15% in 2020 to 3.24 billion euros ($3.96 billion) in an "exceptional" year. That resulted in an annual net profit of 192 million euros.
The company, which says it is the world's second-biggest vendor of packaged rice, had to rearrange its production last year to meet unusually high peaks in demand for rice and pasta. It cautioned that 2021 would be a difficult year but that it should be able to weather the challenges.
Ebro said it expects higher costs from more expensive raw materials and freight fees, as well as lower demand from consumers whose earnings have been affected by COVID-19 restrictions.
The company also expects pressure on prices from supermarkets, saying renewed competition will lead to price wars.
Ebro's shares, which have fallen more than 8% since the start of 2021, were down 0.4% in early afternoon trade.
($1 = 0.8175 euros) (Reporting by Emma Pinedo, Editing by Inti Landauro and Susan Fenton)
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Food producer Ebro profits as consumers stock up on rice, pasta during pandemic - Successful Farming
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