Greencore directors faced rigorous questioning at yesterday's annual general meeting, mainly relating to the price paid for sugar beet and the lack of acquisition deals.

Questions about the board's ageing profile - leading to it being "moribund and not too aggressive in its approach" - and the lack of a "grower director" representing its sugar beet suppliers were also raised.

The chairman, Mr Bernie Cahill, told the meeting, which was held in Dublin, that there was a committee which looked at and made recommendations to the board on appointments.

Responding to questions about the company's strategy, the chief executive, Mr David Dilger, said that it would have liked to have invested more during the year, but would not move on an acquisition until the time, price and strategy was right. "This is not a sprint," he said.

In his review, he said that 1997 had been the most difficult year of trading since the 1991 flotation. He said that many decisions taken in 1996/97 were in the company's long-term interest, "which, of necessity, were more painful in the shorter term".

"The easier options were rejected. For this reason, we have an even stronger base on which to build," he said.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Mr Dilger would not be drawn on whether the company was exploring an acquisition deal with the British malting company, Paul's Malt, or the Australian, Joe White Maltings.

He said the company had invested in the malting business, was trading worldwide and had "an interest in malting businesses globally".

Earlier, one shareholder, Mr Joe Rea, the former IFA president, said that if the margins on agribusiness had been the same as the sugar business the annual operating profit before exceptional items of £56 million would have been £86 million.

"Your turnover is down £20 million, profits almost halved, your margins are down to 5 per cent. . . What are the possibilities of getting the margins up to the same level as the sugar beet, which would increase the profit by £30 million?" he asked.

Mr Dilger said one of the reasons for the high margins on the sugar business was that returns on the capital intensive sugar business required much more capital than other businesses.

"It is our aspiration to become the most efficient sugar producer in Europe," he said.

He added that it was not an easy option to increase margins in agribusiness, where the company supplies fertilisers and other farm inputs to customers, some of whom were investors.

Green-pound revaluations had also ensured that product prices decreased dramatically.

Mr Rea asked about the possibility of a loyalty bonus scheme for beet growers. "There needs to be some incentive in regard to your agribusiness," he said.

Mr Dilger replied that the company did not believe in competing by putting "its arms around its customers".

"We want to compete with our competitors on price and service and that is what we will continue to do," he said. Asked about grower dissatisfaction with beet prices, Mr Dilger said the company had done a lot to counter that, but it would not do so at the expense of its competitiveness.