Greek dairy company Kri-Kri reported strong first-half results on September 24, lifting its full-year sales forecast while reducing its profit outlook on cost pressures.
Sales in the first six months of 2026 rose 26% to €204 million from €162 million a year earlier, the company said. Gross profit more than doubled to €66 million from €45 million, and gross margin widened 490 basis points to 32.4%. Operating profit climbed 70.6% to €39.4 million, with EBIT margin reaching 19.3%. EBITDA grew 65% to €43 million and net profit jumped 87.6% to €36.5 million. The period also included a €5.7 million tax relief benefit, compared with €1.4 million in the prior-year period.
Yogurt exports were the primary growth engine, accounting for roughly 63% of total sales. Export yogurt revenue rose 46.6% to about €129 million, while operating profit in the segment more than doubled to €28 million. Sales in the U.K. jumped 67%, now representing about one-third of total company sales, and Italian sales increased 31%. Two foreign customers together generated approximately €53 million in combined sales, representing 14% and 10% respectively.
Domestic yogurt sales in Greece grew 10% to €43.3 million, as the wider Greek market expanded 11% in value and 8.6% in volume. The ice cream segment, however, lagged. Domestic ice cream sales fell 1.8% to €22.8 million against a broader Greek market that contracted 4.3% in volume and 1.5% in value. Export ice cream sales dropped 23.6% to €7.2 million, largely due to the loss of a private-label contract with a U.K. retailer.
CFO Konstantinos Sarmadakis characterized the period as marked by "strong sales growth, significant profitability improvement, and continuing momentum in our international yogurt business." He noted that sales growth was predominantly volume driven, with yogurt volumes contributing roughly €37 million in incremental sales and late-2025 pricing actions adding about €8.5 million. On inflation management, Sarmadakis said the company is better prepared than in past cycles to respond quickly to input cost increases with corresponding pricing adjustments.
For the full year, Kri-Kri raised its sales outlook to about €400 million from previous guidance of more than €390 million. However, it trimmed EBIT guidance to €57 million–€58 million from about €60 million, citing ongoing cost pressures. The company expects second-half growth to slow to roughly 18%, down from 25% in the first half, reflecting weaker ice cream performance and tougher comparisons from pricing actions taken in H2 2025. Maximum sales capacity under the current production footprint was estimated at €430 million to €440 million.
Looking ahead, Kri-Kri outlined a medium-term investment plan of approximately €127 million between 2026 and 2030, with annual spending of €23 million to €28 million and a target return on invested capital of at least 25%. Yogurt production capacity is expected to double by 2028 compared with 2025 and nearly triple by 2030. The company plans to fund most of the program through operating cash flows, using only 20% to 30% debt. New price increases are planned to take effect in December 2026 or early 2027.
Sarmadakis noted that the main constraint is no longer demand but available production capacity, with facilities operating at high utilization rates that have forced the company to delay new business development during peak seasonal periods such as May and September.
Shares of Kri-Kri closed at $31.25 and traded down 1.44% to $30.80 following the report. The stock has ranged between $17.00 and $33.60 over the past 52 weeks.
