Summary details

Good results in 2008 with 18.5% growth in adjusted earnings per share
2009 earnings expected to be in a range of low to mid single digit growth

4 March 2009 - Glanbia plc ('Glanbia'), the international cheese and nutritional ingredients Group, announces its full year results for the year ended 3 January, 2009.

2008 Full year results summary

Operating margin pre exceptional up 80 basis points;
Profit before tax pre exceptional up 20.8%;
Adjusted earnings per share up 18.5%, following a 25% increase in 2007;
International division marginally down in 2008, as a strong performance by Food Ingredients USA and Nutritionals was offset by a difficult year for Food Ingredients Ireland;
Robust performances in Irish division, with satisfactory results from Consumer Foods and Agribusiness & Property;
A good year for International Joint Ventures, with a particularly strong performance from Southwest Cheese.

	2008	2007	Change
Revenue1	€2,232.2m	€2,206.6m	Up 1.0%
Operating profit pre exceptional	€134.1m	€115.8m	Up 15.7%
Operating margin pre exceptional	6.0%	5.2%	Up 80 bps
Net financing costs	(€21.1 m)	(€17.3 m)	Up €3.8m
Share of results of Joint Ventures & Associates¹	€7.3m	€1.0m	Up €6.3m
Profit before tax pre exceptional	€120.3m	€99.5m	Up 20.8%
Taxation pre exceptional	(€21.5m)	(€16.4m)	Up €5.1m
Profit after tax pre exceptional	€98.7m	€83.1m	Up 18.8%
Exceptional items²	(€19.4m)	(€22.8m)	See note
Basic earnings per share	26.76 c	20.42 c	Up 31.0%
Adjusted earnings per share³	35.86 c	30.25 c	Up 18.5%
Dividend per share in respect of the full year	6.51 c	6.08 c	Up 7.1%

Revenue including Glanbia's share of the revenue of Joint Ventures and Associates was €2.6 billion for 2008, broadly similar to the same period last year. Share of results of Joint Ventures & Associates is an after interest and tax amount.
In exceptional items €14.5 million relates to a rationalisation programme in Consumer Foods, Agribusiness and Food Ingredients Ireland. An exceptional charge of €3.9 million was incurred on the finalisation of the exit from the Pigmeat business in March 2008 and a deferred taxation charge of €1.0 million arose in Glanbia Cheese due to a change in UK taxation legislation.
Before exceptional items and amortisation of intangible assets.

John Moloney, Group Managing Director, said:

“ Glanbia performed well in 2008, delivering a good set of results, completing a major strategic acquisition and achieving key financial targets. All businesses, including joint ventures, performed to or better than anticipated, with the exception of Food Ingredients Ireland which suffered a sharp decline in profits and margins in 2008.

2009 will be a tough year. Global dairy markets have weakened considerably from previous high levels with the outlook for 2009 deteriorating further since the beginning of the year. Food Ingredients Ireland will be the most challenged in this context and we expect this business to breakeven this year. Food Ingredients USA is expected to deliver a resilient performance, albeit down when compared with a strong result in 2008. Reducing farm incomes will have implications for farm input sales and as a result for revenue and profits in Agribusiness. Consumer Foods, Nutritionals and Joint Ventures & Associates are expected to deliver robust performances.

Based on current market conditions, the Group now expects 2009 earnings to be in a range of low to mid single digit growth. Glanbia is continuing to maximise organic growth opportunities and aggressively manage costs to sustain the business through the current challenging environment.”

2008 Revenue

2008 Operating profit
(pre exceptional)

View 2008 full year results (3.36mb)