Golden Vale has disposed of its 66.66 per cent shareholding in Vejle Margarinefabrik, a Danish margarine company, to Puratos, an international food ingredients company, for an undisclosed sum. Golden Vale bought the stake in 1993 for £5.4 million (€6.86 million) and a spokesperson said it had now been sold at a profit.

The purchase of the majority stake seven years ago was Golden Vale's first venture into mainland Europe. At the time, the group described it as a "strategic" move.

After that purchase, Mr Pablo Navarro, managing director of Vejle Margarinefabrik, emphasised that the shares bought by the Irish company were Cshares with limited voting rights.

Consequently, he told Danish daily Jyllands, a 66 per cent Irish portfolio would not mean Irish control of the company.

Announcing the sale yesterday, Golden Vale said it was "consistent with its strategy and the ongoing refocusing of group activities". The company was not prepared to elaborate on the brief statement.

In its interim statement last year, Golden Vale described Vejle Margarinefabrik's performance as disappointing. Higher oil prices had led to first-half losses, but margins were restored in the second half.

The Danish company, understood to have had net assets of some €5.4 million (£4.3 million) at the end of last year, employs 89 people at its base at Vejle, in Jutland on the Danish mainland. The remaining equity is owned by several small Danish bakeries. They are retaining their shareholding.

Golden Vale's latest figures showed a 22 per cent rise in pre-tax profit to €30.2 million in 1999. Nearly all its operating profit came from consumer foods, while the butter and milk powder operations incurred a loss of €900,000 on sales of €277 million.

Financier Mr Dermot Desmond has a 10.2 per cent stake in the group. This holding has doubled in less than a year. It is his second move into the group.