15th Feb 2007 07:01
Greencore Group PLC15 February 2007 GREENCORE GROUP PLC ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGCHAIRMAN'S SUPPLEMENTARY STATEMENTAND TRADING UPDATE At the Annual General Meeting of Greencore Group plc to be held in Dublin today,the chairman, Ned Sullivan, will make the following statement: "Greencore performed strongly during 2006, a year in which its transformationfrom a principally agribusiness based group into one of Europe's leadingconvenience food producers was completed. The Convenience Foods division, which accounted for 92% of the Group'scontinuing operating profits in 2006, performed strongly with turnover growth of8.3% and operating profit growth of 5.7%. Margins were broadly maintained (7.7%in 2006 versus 7.8% in 2005) despite divisional energy cost increases of morethan Eur5m year-on-year. The Board expects that the strategic and operational model of the ConvenienceFoods division will drive further growth in 2007. This growth is anticipateddespite the occurrence of an electrical fire at our largest sandwich facility atManton Wood in December 2006 that will negatively impact on the costs of oursandwich business in this financial year. In addition, the division continuesto face strong inflationary pressure on raw material pricing. We areaggressively pursuing a broad set of Total Lowest Cost, product innovation,pricing and new channel initiatives to offset these impacts and deliver on ourexpected growth. The Ingredients, Agribusiness and Related Property division delivered anexcellent performance, reporting operating profits of Eur27.6m in a year ofdramatic change that regrettably marked the last sugar campaign for Irish Sugar. The new EU sugar regime, which was announced in November 2005, posed aninsurmountable challenge to profitable sugar beet growing in Ireland and,therefore, to a competitive sugar industry. The Group responded by deliveringan excellent final year of sugar performance, by committing early to exit sugarproduction and by strongly defending the Group's entitlement to restructuringaid under EU law. A trial date for the judicial review of the IrishGovernment's decision regarding the allocation of EU aid has been set by theIrish High Court for 1 May 2007. Over-capacity in European malt markets and significant energy price inflationadversely impacted on the performance of Greencore Malt in 2006. However, theanticipated improvement in the malt cycle has now commenced and that, allied toexcellent commercial and operational performance across our malt business, willdrive a significant profit improvement in this business in the current financialyear. During 2006, the Group increased its focus on unlocking the value from its 970acres of potential development property. In recent months Greencore hassubmitted proposals for developing its lands at Carlow and Mallow to therelevant County Councils. Carlow Gateway and Mallow West are exciting proposalsthat, if adopted, will deliver significant investment and substantial jobcreation, providing approximately 2000 jobs in each town. We look forward toworking with the respective Councils and communities over the coming months onthe comprehensive development plans for each town. Overall, we are excited about both the progress and momentum within the threecore parts of the Group's portfolio. While recognising that the second half ofthe year is a much more significant contributor to annual Group performance, theBoard anticipates that, barring unforeseen circumstances, earnings per share forfinancial year 2007 will at least match the current market consensus level of25.6 cent." E.F. SullivanChairman 15 February 2007 For further information, please contact: David Dilger Group Chief Executive +353 1 605 1045Patrick Coveney Chief Financial Officer +353 1 605 1018Eoin Tonge Group Capital Markets Director +353 1 605 1036Billy Murphy or Anne Marie Curran Drury Communications +353 1 260 5000Rory Godson or Victoria Brough Powerscourt +44 207 236 5615 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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