Steady as she goes at IAWS

IAWS has had a "very satisfactory" year so far, shareholders were told at the food group's annual general meeting yesterday.

But it was too early to make a call on how it would perform over the full year, said chairman Philip Lynch.

"We are now five months into our new year and it is too early to make predictions about the current year, particularly as over 60% of our projected operating profit comes in the second half," said Mr Lynch.

"The trading pattern has remained broadly similar through calendar 2004, particularly for agri business, where trading remains difficult." But he added the board was happy with the performance so far.

Chief executive Owen Killian said the process of integrating Groupe Hubert, the French bakery bought by IAWS for €130 million last month, was still at an early stage but was upbeat about the benefits it would bring. Mr Killian said IAWS had kept a close eye on the company for several years before swooping for it when it came on the market.

It was a "great" business that was similar to IAWS's existing Cuisine de France and Délice de France bakery operations and "a very good fit," he said.

Groupe Hubert will give IAWS access to 20,000 more sales outlets on the continent. The company had strong skills in distribution and developing new products and was successful in an environment where customers took their food seriously, said Mr Killian.

IAWS shares were down 20 cent at €12.15 yesterday.