Never likely to lose the run of himself and indulge in over-the-top histrionics, one can truly tell Kerry Group is in good shape and on the right track when Stan McCarthy uses terms like “extraordinary” and “optimistic” to describe current group performance and outlook.

Kerry Group has reported year-on-year revenue growth of 10.9% for the first nine months of this year, to €4.4bn, with trading profit up by 12.1%.

Up to 800 new jobs are expected to be announced this morning for Co Kildare by the Kerry Group.

Kerry Group can offer Irish graduates opportunities all over the world, chief executive Stan McCarthy told the group’s AGM yesterday.

INTERNATIONAL food and ingredients maker Kerry Group has delivered earnings per share at the upper end of market expectations for last year.

THE CompetitionAuthority is facing a substantial legal costs bill following its unsuccessful High Court defence of its refusal to permit theacquisition by the Kerry Group of Breeo, the consumer foods company formed following the restructuring of Dairygold.

REOX Holdings has seen operating profits plunge from e20.8 million to e5.6m in the year to September 30, 2008.

ONE of north Cork’s biggest employers is to shed 130 jobs in the coming weeks, less than two years after a €30 million investment in its plant.

PORK products recalled by Kerry Group alone have been estimated at €4m to €5m of value, on a per week basis.

ALL the necessary controls are now in place to enable the restoration of Irish pork and bacon supplies to consumers.

A HUGE blow to the Irish pigmeat sector was how the Irish Association of Pigmeat Processors described the crisis.

REOX may be forced back into the marketplace to seek a repeat deal offering the “compelling value” which had swung its decision to sell its Breeo division to Kerry Group.

THE Competition Authority is currently deliberating on two takeovers in the food and drinks sector.

CAPVEST, the British-based specialistprivate equity firm rumoured to have been in the bidding to buy Breeo Foods, sold to Kerry Group for €165m, has announced the sale of the Foodvest Group to Lion Capital for a sum of over €1.26 billion.

Kerry Group today announced its agreement, subject to regulatory approval, to acquire Breeo Foods, a subsidiary of Irish-based Reox Holdings.

KERRY Group could be on the brink of taking over the Irish consumer food division of Reox Holdings, previously owned by Dairygold Co-op.

WITH fears growing that the world economy is heading for recession, looking at the share prospects, or indeed the outlook, for the Irish food sector could hardly be described as a tantalising prospect.

REOX Holdings is close to a deal with Kerry Group, worth in the region of €170 million, for the sale of its Irish-based consumer foods division, run by its Breeo Foods subsidiary.

ION Equity is in talks with Reox Holdings that could lead to the €200 million purchase of its consumer brands that include Galtee, Dairygold, Mitchelstown, Shaws and Calvita.

THE sell recommendation put on Greencore’s shares by British broker Goldman Sachs was a jolt to the group.

FOR 28 years Monica O’Brien worked with the Galtee Meats plant in Mitchelstown, first as an office employee and in recent times as a pig supplier with husband Rory O’Brien.

FORMER employees and suppliers of Galtee Meats have called on supermarket groups to boycott Galtee products following the closure of the once-thriving plant in Mitchelstown.

SEVERAL hundreds people are expected to mount a protest outside the Galtee Meats plant in Mitchelstown, Co Cork, today to coincide with its closure.

IAWS, one of the country’s leading convenience food groups, has been linked to a €150m buyout of the consumer brands formerly owned by Dairygold Co-op.

THE possible sale of the Irish consumer foods business of Breeo Foods could realise more than €200 million, industry sources predicted yesterday.

CONSUMERS have been urged to boycott the Galtee, Shaws and Roscrea brands amid claims they contain non-Irish pigmeat.

THE owners of the former Galtee meat plant were last night holding crisis meetings with 170 workers to try to avert disruptive strike action, due to begin this morning.

THE former Galtee meats plant in Mitchelstown, Co Cork, is to be closed over the coming months with the loss of 70 jobs.

Fifty Irish firms will take part in the biggest food and drinks trade event this year at Croke Park.

DAIRYGOLD has confirmed that it has already paid out 25% of the annualised goodwill rebate, (11 months ahead of schedule).

IFA has accused Glanbia of reneging on previous commitments to pig suppliers, by leading a price drop of 5c/kg.

PIG slaughtering capacity without Galtee will be tested over the coming few weeks as supplies increase before and after Christmas, according to IFA.

PIG prices paid by the larger slaughter plants are unchanged this week, ranging from 135 cent to 144 cent/kg.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern is to meet a high powered Irish Farmers’ Association delegation in West Cork this afternoon to discuss the impact of Dairygold’s decision to opt out of primary pig processing.