Glanbia shares spurt 10% higher adding  €225m to market value within minutes   

Siobhán Talbot, group managing director, Glanbia said she expect the company to continue to build momentum into Q4 and to exit the year well-positioned for 2021 growth. File picture: Dylan Vaughan

Shares in Glanbia raced 10% higher adding around €225m to its stock market value within minutes, after delivering a rare positive update on the way its international operations are weathering the global pandemic.   

Glanbia had been under pressure long before the onset of the Covid-19 crisis in March as investors focused on the performance of the spate of major consumer food acquisitions the company executed in recent years, and even on its long-standing traditional investments in cheese plants in the US.         

The shares spurt which was also helped by it announcing a €50m shares-buyback plan has clawed back a significant part of the losses suffered by Glanbia investors in the past year, boosting the value of the Irish-owned multinational to over €2.28bn. The shares are still 20% down from a year ago, however.      

In its update, Glanbia reported "improving trends" in the third quarter, with revenues at its Glanbia Nutritionals operation soaring, its Glanbia Performance Nutrition posting double-digit margins despite squeezed revenues, and its so-called Joint Ventures operation continuing "to deliver a robust performance".

Siobhán Talbot, group managing director, said the performance was likely to stretch through the final three months of the year, and perhaps for longer. 

"We expect to continue to build momentum into Q4 and to exit the year well-positioned for 2021 growth,” Ms Talbot said.