Greencore says it will meet forecasts

Greencore has said it is confident of meeting analysts' forecasts for the year ending September 26th.

In a pre-close statement issued to the stock exchange yesterday, Greencore chief financial officer Mr Patrick Kennedy said the company was on track to deliver results in line with consensus expectations.

Most analysts are expecting earnings per share (EPS) in the region of 30.3 cents, an increase of about 3 per cent on last year's result, or double-digit growth over continuing operations.

Mr Kennedy later said Greencore had recorded strong trading across the group, with convenience foods displaying particular buoyancy.

Agribusiness and ingredients were "solid", he added.

Mr Kennedy said the summer heatwave had been "neutral" for the company, with additional sales in cold foods and drinks cancelling out a drop in demand for hot products such as cooking sauces and pizza.

He said the company had been hit by a "modest" increase in input costs over the period but did not signal this as a problem.

He acknowledged however that the euro's appreciation against the dollar had eaten into profits, estimating that full-year EPS would have been some 5 per cent higher in the absence of the currency effect. He said the company was reaping the benefits of its repositioning as a convenience-food business after the acquisition of Hazlewood in 2000.

Analysts welcomed the guidance, which they said illustrated Greencore's resilience compared to its peers, a number of which have warned of higher commodity costs and negative weather effects over recent weeks.

Ms Niamh Brodie of Merrion Stockbrokers said the firm now appeared to have established "a platform for sustainable growth".

NCB analyst Mr Paul Meade said the key issue facing Greencore was earnings visibility in light of issues such as forthcoming reform of the EU sugar market.

Mr Kennedy said Greencore was prepared for some opening of the market but dismissed the full liberalisation proposed by Denmark as far-fetched.

He also predicted that the proportional importance of sugar within the Greencore portfolio (currently 20 per cent) would have diminished by the time the full effect of the forthcoming reforms is felt after 2010.

Greencore will release full-year results on November 25th.

The company's shares closed one cent higher at €2.84 in Dublin last night.