Parent of Birds Eye, Iglo, Findus posts strong Q3 earnings amid COVID-19 pandemic
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Nomad Foods CEO Stefan Descheemaeker said his company is plowing on with growth plans regardless of whether or when COVID-19 vaccines become available.

The last two weeks have brought promising news on the effectiveness of vaccines being developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and the Oxford Astra Zeneca partnership.

"It's not going to change our algorithm, neither short term or long term," Descheemaeker said during an investors day presentation.

Free Cash Flow

Free cash flow (FCF) is a measure of cash available for company to repay creditors or pay dividends and interest to investors.

Investment bankers and analysts evaluating a firm's expected performance with different capital structures may use variations of free cash flow like free cash flow for the company and free cash flow to equity, which are adjusted for interest payments and borrowings.

Free cash flow may reveal problems in the fundamentals before they arise on the income statement.

Source: Investopedia

Nomad, the parent group of the Bird's Eye, Iglo and Findus frozen brands, has set out a plan to generate €1.5 billion ($1.8 billion) of free cashflow over the next five years, which represents about a third of the company's current market capitalization.

Frozen foods businesses have benefited from sharp increases in sales since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic with consumers stuck at home under restrictive measures aimed at combatting the deadly disease, which has claimed close to 1.4 million lives across the globe this year.

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Welcoming "very good" news for the whole world on the vaccine front, Descheemaeker said it may take months for a wider rollout of vaccines but that from a business growth standpoint his company will be working on the basis of there being a vaccine being available from Jan. 1.

The executive said he expects the momentum of a very strong start in the fourth quarter to carry over into the first quarter of 2021.

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Nomad says it is well prepared to cope with potential demand spikes caused by a second coronavirus wave, while consumers are learning to deal with the effects of the pandemic.

Next year as part of Nomad's growth plan the company will price product innovations in the pipeline for fish 10 percent higher per ton.

Earlier this month Nomad announced it had entered into an agreement to acquire Findus Switzerland from Froneri International Ltd, as well as certain intellectual property from an affiliate of Nestlé S.A, for approximately €110 million ($130.7 million) on a debt-free, cash-free basis.

This week the Nomad CEO said his firm wants first crack at newly Marine Stewardship Council-certified Namibian hake.

Nomad has committed to source 100 percent of its fish and seafood from sustainable sources by the end of 2025.