Ex-BoI chief executive Boucher named chairman of Clonbio Group

Irish-owned agribusiness company ClonBio Group has appointed former Bank of Ireland chief executive Richie Boucher as its chairman.

The appointment comes as the company reported a marginal increase in pretax profits despite the coronavirus pandemic to €96 million for 2020. This compares to €95 million a year earlier. Turnover totalled €360 million as against €361 million in 2019.

Clonbio is in the middle of a €200 million, three-year investment programme into a variety of bio-based products, led by alternative protein concentrates and isolates for use in human and animal nutrition. It said it invested €66 million under this strategy last year with a similar figure for 2019.

Overall, the company has invested over €500 million since 2010.

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Founder and chief executive Mark Turley said 2021 had started strongly with the company expected to make "meaningful progress" during the year.

“ClonBio will be a very different business in a few years’ time, presenting significant optionality in terms of future growth and development priorities,” he said.

The group's core operating company, Pannonia Bio, is a maize-based biorefinery located on the banks of the Danube in Hungary. It manufactures sustainable bioproducts such as GMO-free proteins.

Group employment increased by 50 to 300 last year, the company said.

Mr Boucher said he foresaw a very positive outlook for the company.

“ClonBio is significantly ahead of the curve in tapping into sustainability solutions that align with consumer and corporate preferences for bio-based and circular economy solutions,” he said.

“I am hugely excited by its green credentials, its standout commercial prospects and the tremendous capacity of its strong R&D team to develop cleaner, greener, safer solutions,” Mr Boucher added.