Glanbia sticking to 2018 targets despite expected fall in first-half earnings

Glanbia, the Kilkenny-based nutritionals group, said it expects its earnings to fall in the first half due to competitive dairy market pricing and planned investments.

However, the company said that it is sticking to its full-year forecast for adjusted earnings per share (EPS) to increase by between 5 per cent and 8 per cent, in spite of a headwind from a weaker dollar against the euro, as growth comes through in the second half.

Weakness

In a trading update issued before the group's annual general meeting on Tuesday, the company, led by managing director Siobhan Talbot, said its revenue from wholly-owned continuing operations fell by 8.1 per cent in the first quarter as a result of dollar weakness. Excluding foreign exchange effects, revenues rose by 4.8 per cent.

The group said that volume growth from both its Glanbia Performance Nutrition and Glanbia Nutritionals division increased by 7.2 per cent in the first quarter, with acquisitions driving 3.5 per cent growth.