The Magnum Ice Cream Company has beaten City forecasts in its first quarter to deliver 4.5% organic sales growth.
Handily beating a company-compiled consensus of 2.6% sales growth, Magnum declared it was on track to deliver its goal of 3%-5% growth over its first full year of independence from Unilever.
The jump in revenues came from growing sales volumes, up 2.9% compared to Q1 2025, with a smaller-than-expected rise in pricing of just 1.6%.
City analysts covering the stock had expected Magnum to gain just 0.2% in sales volumes in the quarter, after a slump in Q4 2025. Shares in the company leaped 11.4% in morning trading following the results.
While foreign exchange rates knocked overall revenues down by 1.2% to €1.8bn, the quarter to 31 March 2026 represented an “encouraging start” to the year, according to CEO Peter ter Kulve.
“In Q1 organic sales grew across both volume and price, which is a testament to the breadth of our portfolio and our competitive execution,” he said.
”Every region contributed to positive growth, with strength in the US and Europe and continued gains in AMEA.”
Magnum has now completed its acquisitions of its India and Portugal businesses.
Ter Kulve also acknowledged “heightened uncertainty” in the markets, particularly in the Middle East and the war’s effect on input costs.
“Our direct regional exposure remains limited, and we are taking mitigating actions,” he said.
Ter Kulve reaffirmed Magnum’s target of 3%-5% organic sales growth for the full year, with an improvement to adjusted EBITDA margin of 40bps to 60bps weighted towards the second half of the year.
“Our focus is on executing our growth strategy and productivity programme.”
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