Food group Greencore has reported pre-tax profits, before exceptional items, of €23.5m for the year ending September 2009. This is down from a figure of €55.3m in 2008, but the company said it was on track to deliver modest earnings growth in 2010.
Annual revenues slipped by 0.8% to €1.1 billion. Greencore said a 13% fall in the average euro-sterling exchange rate hit its operating profits by €9.1m.
The company has declared a final dividend of 4.5 cent per share which will result in a total dividend of 7.5 cent per share.
Greencore said the results represented a good performance against the backdrop of a challenging consumer environment, which was especially evident in the first quarter of the year.
The company said that its convenience foods division, which accounted for 64% of group operating profit in the 12 month period, gave a strong performance, especially in the second half of the year. Operating profits on a constant currency basis rose by 14% to €46.4m, while sales rose by 2.2% to €794.4m.
It said earlier this month that it has agreed to sell its water business for up to €19.6m to a Scottish firm.
Greencore said its ingredients and related property division saw a 'resilient performance' against the backdrop of weaker malt demand from its brewing and distilling customers. Operating profits at the division, on a constant currency basis, fell by 1.5% to €26.9m while sales were down 8.2% to €304.6m.
Earlier this month, the company confirmed that it had received a number of unsolicited approaches for its malt business. 'At this state there can be no certainty that a transaction will be forthcoming,' Greencore added today.
The company said that the outlook for the Irish property market is poor in the medium term. It said that it continues to remediate both its Carlow and Mallow sites and are 'land banking' the properties for the foreseeable future.
'This has been a year of real achievement in the face of considerable headwinds,' commented Greencore CEO Patrick Coveney.
'Most importantly, we have driven significant performance improvement in our core convenience foods business - performance that improved with each passing quarter,' he added.
Shares in the group ended down one cent at €1.38 in Dublin.
