Glanbia to cut 65 jobs at Ingredients arm
Print10 December 2009
It was announced last month that Glanbia Dairy Ingredients is to shed 65 employees in a bid to reverse the Irish division’s declining performance. In a statement released on 18 November, the company revealed that 55 of the redundancies will be handed down at its Ballyragget plant, while the remainder will effect the Virginia operation.
According to Jim Bergin, CEO of Glanbia Dairy Ingredients, the group is consulting with employee representatives about its restructuring plan, which aims to secure 500 jobs in the business, and “to support and retain our 4,500 farmer suppliers.”
In his statement, the Glanbia CEO said that current volatility in global dairy markets, exacerbated due to the removal of EU market supports, has proven a significant challenge for Irish dairy processing. “The reality is that the impact of the global dairy downturn means the business will be significantly loss-making for the first time this year…despite a significant cost reduction programme completed earlier in the year,” he said.
Bergin stated that the “loss making” position was not sustainable for Glanbia’s milk suppliers either. He said Glanbia recognised that 2009 has been a difficult year for dairy farmers and that this is the reason the board “decided to support manufacturing milk prices” last April.
In a separate announcement later in November, it was revealed that Glanbia’s vice chairman, John Fitzgerald will retire next May.
The company has forecast that its adjusted earnings per share for 2009 will be at “the lower end of market expectations.”
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