pladis has closed out 2025 with revenue up to £3.3 billion, but a fall in EBITDA and operating profit shows the scale of the cost pressures the snacking group navigated over the year.

The company behind McVitie’s, Ülker and GODIVA published its Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 2025, reporting revenue growth of 1.2% to £3.272bn, up from £3.232bn in 2024. Branded sales made up around 90% of revenue, underlining the continued strength of pladis’ core portfolio.

A portfolio built on heritage

The results landed in the same year McVitie’s marked 100 years of Chocolate Digestives — a milestone pladis points to as evidence of the enduring relevance of its most iconic brands. That longevity sits alongside a business that describes 2025 as a demanding year for the wider food industry, shaped by commodity inflation, currency volatility and macroeconomic headwinds.

Against that backdrop, EBITDA came in at £473.7m, down from £494.5m in 2024, while operating profit fell to £301.6m from £344.4m. Working capital requirements increased during the year, contributing to lower cash generation, and net debt stood at £1.028bn at year end.

Investing through the cycle

pladis put £100.5m into capital expenditure during 2025, aimed at strengthening capacity, productivity, efficiency and resilience across its operations. In the Americas, the company also simplified its manufacturing footprint to support a more efficient platform for future growth.

Elsewhere, targeted multi-year investment programmes continued across the manufacturing network: a £68m programme spanning UK bakeries producing McVitie’s, Jacob’s and Carr’s; ongoing investment in its Cairo facility, which had reached £8.6m by the end of 2025; and a €5.4m investment in a new Mini BN line at Vertou in France.

Sridhar Ramamurthy, chief financial officer at pladis, said the company’s ownership structure underpins this approach: “Our private, family-owned structure gives us the freedom to take a long-term view, beyond the reporting cycle. That perspective shapes how we invest in the business.”

Innovation and international reach

Innovation remained central to pladis’ Compete to Win strategy. In Türkiye, products launched over the past three years accounted for 12% of Ülker’s annual snacking revenue in 2025, pointing to a pipeline that continues to feed the brand’s leadership position in the category. The Annual Report also highlights pladis’ first global Accelerator Programme, which selected 12 start-ups from more than 300 applications across five continents.

Since the year end, the company has continued advancing its strategic priorities, including the next phase of McVitie’s expansion in China, as it looks to build scale in attractive growth markets.

Sustainability takes shape

During 2025, pladis developed Happy People, Happy Planet, its new global sustainability strategy, which launched in April 2026. The strategy is built around five focus areas: colleagues and communities; responsible snacking; carbon; packaging and waste; and responsible sourcing.

Ramamurthy summed up the year as one of resilience under pressure: “pladis delivered a resilient performance in 2025, growing revenue to £3.3 billion and maintaining market-leading positions in the UK, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and elsewhere… It was achieved in a year that tested every part of the food industry – from commodity inflation and currency volatility to broader macroeconomic headwinds.”

pladis’ results tell a familiar story for branded food manufacturers in 2025: top-line resilience achieved despite, rather than because of, the operating environment. Revenue growth of 1.2% is modest, but holding share and maintaining leadership positions in markets from the UK to Saudi Arabia while absorbing commodity and currency headwinds is itself a marker of portfolio strength.