Glanbia to cut 65 jobs in dairy sector

GLANBIA announced last night that it will be seeking around 65 redundancies in its Irish dairy ingredients sector.

Some 55 of the job losses will be at the food company’s facility at Ballyraggett in Co Kilkenny. But some jobs will also be lost at its plant in Virginia, Co Cavan.

Glanbia said the redundancies will be voluntary and that negotiations with the unions involved will begin immediately.

It said the move followed the outcome of a strategic review designed to sustain its competitive position in the context of the severe challenges facing the business.

The company said 2009 has also been a very difficult year for Glanbia milk suppliers and recognising this the board, last April, decided to support manufacturing milk prices to sustain its farmer supply base.

The producer of a third of Ireland’s milk and cheese, also disclosed yesterday that its 2009 adjusted earnings per share are set to be at the lower end of current market expectations.

In an interim management statement for the period July 5 to November 17, the food group said its 2009 adjusted earnings per share are forecast to be between 30 and 31 cent a share.

Overall, the group said it had performed broadly to plan in the period. However, persistently weak consumer sentiment is driving an increasingly competitive retail market for consumer products.

“Consumer sentiment remains weak and there is considerable uncertainty in currency and financial markets. As a result, the board remains cautious on the rate of growth in 2010 at this point in time, particularly in light of a very difficult 2009,” it said.

Glanbia said for 2009, as guided, revenues for its US Cheese and Global Nutritionals are forecast to be below 2008.