Greencore executives will go another year without bonuses after the group posted an operating loss of €5 million for the first half of 2018, according to the Irish Independent.
The Dublin-based convenience food manufacture in the UK and the US posted its bleak interim results for the first half of 2018 yesterday (Tuesday, May 22).
Painful First Half
The Independent understands that the decision to scrap the bonuses for the second time comes during persistent difficulties in Greencore’s US division and as a shock profit warning wiped a third off the group’s market value.
However, it also reported that investor enthusiasm returned in light of CEO Partick Coveney resetting the US strategy. Shares surged by 11% - beating market expectations.
Coveney told the Irish Independent yesterday that, "We have had a very painful and disappointing first half relative to what we expected at the start of the year.
"But you can only deal with the issues in front of you and we have certainly done that since March."
Expecting Strong Growth
Regarding his new US strategy, he said its revised strategy leaves Greencore "fishing where the fish are".
In the report yesterday, Coveney said that “As a result of the significant strategic, network and organisational measures that we have taken in order to address these challenges, we believe that our US business is now much better positioned to deliver an improved performance in the second half of the year and beyond.”
“We anticipate strong organic growth for the remainder of FY18”.
It was announced in March that Coveney would spend half of his time in the US, taking a direct role in the strategic, organisational and commercial leadership of the American arm of Greencore's business.
© 2018 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
