Angry shareholders hit out at company bosses
Their failure to consult over the closure of Carlow sugar factory and their refusal to postpone the decision by 12 months infuriated supplier shareholders.
After chairman Ned Sullivan presented his update on the company, Joe Rea former IFA boss was on his feet.
Like others who followed him, Mr Rea personalised his attack on the company identifying chief executive, David Dilger, as the person who highlighted everything that was bad about Greencore.
Mr Rea said the share price performance under Mr Dilger had been abysmal by comparison with his peers and by comparison with other Irish firms.
Mr Sullivan rejected the vote of no confidence in Mr Dilger proposed by Mr Rea.
Sean FitzPatrick, former boss of Anglo Irish Bank, whose share price has been spectacular, was suggested as a replacement for Mr Dilger.
Mr FitzPatrick is a non-executive director of Greencore and a friend of Mr Dilger. At the meeting the board was left in no doubt that farmer shareholders were very angry over the closure of Carlow and Banagher.
Mr Sullivan, under persistent questioning, said the decision on Carlow was taken following a report into the available options by the best consultants in the field.
IFA’s Jim O’Regan, IFA spokesman on beet, said it was the wrong decision on Carlow, taken “without consultation with the partners in the business or their representatives.”
Greencore was also accused of going back on its word in less than a week on the proposed rail link from Bagnalstown to transport the beet handled by Carlow to Mallow. The board was told in no uncertain terms that transportation of 500,000 tonnes of beet from the region to Mallow was a “logistical nightmare” and could not be done.
Mr Dilger and his executive team were accused of “backing a lot of losers” and the Imperial Holly and Hazlewood investments were derided by a number of speakers.
Goodbody Stockbrokers has tipped the shares as a Buy in its latest review of Irish firms while listing the major banks as an Add to portfolios. The management was accused of asset stripping by a number of speakers and the group was accused of soaking up the good profits of the sugar division to funds its poor acquisition strategy.
He pointed out that Sean Brady, the boss of Irish Sugar who drove the rationalisation forward, was available to talk over the concerns of shareholder farmers at any time.
Mr Sullivan rejected the accusation of selling off assets. “We’re not asset stripping, we’re building for the future,” he said.
Another accused the group of losing all sense of direction: “A sandwich bar, that’s what Ye have become. Ye should be bloody well ashamed of yourselves.”
