FX168 Financial News (North America) — Last year, the profits of M&M and the British branch of Snickers parent company increased by nearly 100%, consolidating the dominance of snacks in the cost-conscious market. Mars Wrigley Confectionery is the parent company of well-known chocolate brands such as Snickers, Bounty, and M&M, and its UK branch's profits have doubled in a year.
In an earnings report submitted to the UK Companies Registry last Friday, Mars UK revealed that the company had a huge success this year, with profits jumping from £0.105 billion in 2022 to £0.2062 billion in 2023, growing nearly 100%.
Additionally, the company will pay shareholders a massive £0.6 billion dividend — more than five times higher than the 2022 dividend.
Mars UK attributes its huge profits to a number of factors.
“This quarter's results reflect investments in products, brands, processes, and consumer relationships as part of our ongoing strategy to reflect and adapt to anticipated changes in consumer attitudes and behaviors, and increase focus on key areas of the market,” the company said in its earnings report.
Earlier, Virginia-based Mars announced it would acquire Kellanova, a giant in popular packaged foods such as Pop-Tarts and Pringles chips.
Kellanova spun off from Kellogg last year, with net sales of $13 billion in 2023.
The acquisition further strengthens Mars's dominance in the snack sector, a business that has recently boomed, particularly among younger consumers who choose to split meals into smaller portions. In the UK, people are turning to snacks because of healthier lifestyle preferences and the need for smaller snacks—thanks to some kind of lipstick effect.
Mars has been boosting its business in the UK through high-profile deals. For example, the company announced last year that it would acquire high-end chocolate maker Hotel Chocolat for £0.534 billion.
The deal will help the British chocolate maker expand its business in the UK and globally, and provide Mars with a new snack brand that it can bet on in the high-end market.
Companies like Lindt that specialize in chocolate have had to adapt to rising production costs by increasing consumer prices to boost their business growth. Mondelez International, another competitor of Mars, is also using price increases to absorb increasing operating costs and achieve results at the same time.
At the same time, due to the same factors, some Mars chocolates have also fallen victim to shrinking inflation.
The Mars family has earned billions of dollars from their huge snack and pet food business. The six members of the dynasty are all members of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, and their net worth ranges from $12 billion to $49.2 billion.
