Glanbia upgrades earnings forecasts as group managing director Siobhán Talbot to step down

Glanbia’s group managing director Siobhán Talbot will step down from the role at the end of the year after 10 years in charge, with Glanbia Performance Nutrition chief executive Hugh McGuire taking over.

The announcement came as the nutrition group revised upwards its earnings outlook for the second time this year on the back of strong half-year results, driven by better-than-expected US sales.

Ms Talbot said she would have “mixed emotions” about leaving the business she has been with since 1992. However, she said the company was in a strong position with its current product portfolio to exploit the global trend for better nutrition.

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“That core trend around healthy living and lifestyle is what we do now and whether it is the ingredients side or the branded side, we’re in that sweet spot,” she said.

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Ms Talbot is credited with shifting Glanbia towards higher margin consumer branded and ingredient nutrition markets and away from traditional food commodities. Glanbia’s top-selling Optimum Nutrition brand became the company’s first billion dollar brand under her watch.

Mr McGuire, who has worked with Glanbia for 20 years, will join the board as an executive director from January 1st, 2024, and will be based in Ireland.

News of Ms Talbot’s decision to step down came as Glanbia reported that earnings grew in the first half of 2023. Group earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were up 6 per cent to $198.6 million (€181.8 million), with margins rising to 7.2 per cent, despite a fall of more than 10 per cent in revenues to $2.8 billion for the six months to July 1st, down from $3.1 billion a year earlier.

Adjusted earnings per share were 60.78 cent, up from 57.17 cent in the same period a year earlier. Basic earnings per share from continuing operations rose to 71.9 cent.

The Glanbia Performance Nutrition unit saw like-for-like branded revenue rise almost 4 per cent. However, that was driven by increased pricing, which rose almost 11 per cent, while volumes fell more than 7 per cent.

Revenue at the Glanbia Nutritionals Solutions business showed increased margins, but like for like revenue fell 15 per cent on lower pricing and a decrease in volumes of more than 10 per cent.

Glanbia Cheese

Glanbia increased its interim dividend by 10 per cent to 14.22 cent per share and returned €64.5 million to shareholders during the period through a share buyback. The first half of the year also saw the completion of the deal to sell Glanbia Cheese joint ventures for almost €180 million.

Full-year guidance was upgraded to between 12 per cent and 15 per cent growth in adjusted earnings per share, on the improved outlook for the performance nutrition business.

“Our strategy is on track as we continue to reshape and simplify our portfolio, invest to sustain consumer and customer relevance, drive margin improvement and deliver strong operating returns and cash conversion,” Ms Talbot said. “As we look to the second half of the year, we believe that the combination of market opportunity and our strong operating capabilities set us up for sustained delivery of future growth.”