Aryzta, owners of the Cuisine de France bread brand found in many Irish convenience stores, has returned to profitability for the 2022 financial year after posting losses for several years.

The company which is headquartered in Switzerland but operates globally, posted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of €218m up from €173.4m the previous year.

Underlying net profit was €45.6m for the financial year compared with a loss of €42.2m at the same point in 2021.

Sales were up 15.1% to €1,756m with organic revenue growth up by 17.9%.

The company has undergone substantial consolidation over recent years and the chairman and acting CEO, Urs Jordi attributes this as the driver of the turnaround in company performance and reduction of net debt.

He also suggested that despite the problem of what he describes as a “challenging period of cost inflation” he expects to be reporting further improvement in Aryzta performance next year.

Aryzta share price increased from CHF90 (€92)on Monday to CHF99 (€102) on Tuesday afternoon following the release of the results