Greencore has said the restructuring and integration of British food group Hazlewood is proceeding according to plan, with disposals of loss-making operations raising €104 million (£81.9 million) to date.

Greencore, which aims to raise £120 million sterling (€192.7 million) from asset sales by next May, has sold 11 businesses and closed a further two.

"We have a large disposal programme under way. We have exited 13 businesses and we have more to do," chief executive Mr David Dilger said, noting that the company had five or six more key disposals to complete.

The proceeds of the sales have been used to pay down the company's debt burden, run up as a result of the acquisition of the British group last January. Since the half-year stage, Greencore has reduced its net debt by €151 million to €723 million.

The food group said yesterday that it had made pre-tax profits of €2.1 million in the year ended September 28th, 2001, down from €7.3 million a year earlier. The drop was due to higher interest payments and restructuring charges following the Hazlewood acquisition.

But operating profits - before the exceptional items associated with the acquisition are taken into account - grew by 45 per cent to €116.2 million. Hazlewood contributed €55 million of this.

Adjusted earnings per share fell to 30.4 cents from 34 cents a year earlier, but the company announced an unchanged final dividend of 8.25 cents.

Greencore's existing business continues to face a tough trading climate, with sales from continuing activities rising by just 5 per cent and operating profits in its ingredients business - including sugar, flour, malt and edible oils - declining by €5.4 million to €45.1 million.

But the firm said it believed its British bread and Irish flour business, which have been through a difficult period of late, have now "turned the corner".

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