Speaking following the publication of Glanbia’s financial results for the first half of 2018, Glanbia’s group finance director Mark Garvey stated that “dairy markets are reasonably stable right now”.
Garvey was responding to questions regarding the possibility of a milk price increase given the tough weather conditions farmers have had to deal with over the past couple of months.
While being interviewed on Newstalk this morning (Thursday, August 9), he outlined that Glanbia looks at milk price “as relative to what is happening in the markets”.
Commenting on the tough weather conditions experienced by milk suppliers, Garvey said: “It has been a very difficult year for milk suppliers. There was a harsh spring, poor grass growth and then we had the drought through most of the summer.
From our perspective, we want to make sure that we are paying a competitive milk price; we have done that if you look at the KPMG league.
“Importantly, because of the harsh conditions that our suppliers have had to endure, we have put a number of schemes in place to ensure that our farmers get feed and fertiliser support.”
Financial results
In terms of Glanbia’s financial results, Garvey noted that the group has “invested significantly” in the first half of the year as anticipated.
“From an earnings per share perspective, we look at constant currency and that was down 7%.
“Our overall revenues were up 3.6%, so we had good volume growth coming through – particularly in our branded business in North America and over in Europe and Latin America, and also in our ingredients’ business as well,” he added.
Garvey expects that the investment made in the first half of the year will be beneficial in the second half of 2018.