Poll findings a double blow to Glanbia

GLANBIA Plc shares fell 5% yesterday after a poll indicated the proposed sale of its Irish dairy business to Glanbia Co-op may not have majority support from farmers.

Some observers close to the company cautioned, however, against attributing the drop in the share value to the survey results, and suggested it may have more to do with ongoing volatility in the money markets.

Kerry Group shares fell by 2.7%.

Regarding the specific poll findings, Glanbia plc said it had engaged with some 5,000 voting members at more than 50 meetings.

It said the feedback is showing farmer support at a ratio of 8 to 1 in favour of the proposal with about one third undecided.

“Feedback from farmer meetings, including those organised by the farm organisations, is very positive.

“We would be concerned that a sample size of only 254 farmers may not capture regional and other sectoral variations from a member base of over 8,000.

“We are very encouraged by the response of members attending meetings which will continue up until the vote on May 10,” the company said.

However, the telephone poll, commissioned by Irish Independent Business, found that just 33% of all respondents intend to vote in favour of the deal.

Some 30% of those surveyed said they would vote “no” and a further 37% said they were undecided on how they would vote.

NCB Stockbrokers analyst Paul Meade, said the survey suggests the “yes” camp faces a significant challenge to secure the necessary numbers to get the 75% approval needed under the co-op rules.

Glanbia Co-op chairman Liam Herlihy outlined in a recent letter to members the significance of the proposal to acquire “a €1 billion, well-run, well consolidated and well invested business”.

The first vote on the proposal by co-op members takes place next Monday in Kildalton College, Co Kilkenny.

The second will be held on May 24.