Glanbia plc announced results for the first six months of the year which showed an increase in earnings before tax of 12.7% to $261.6m.

Profit after tax and exceptional items was $50m lower than the same period in 2023, at $143.3m, which was mostly driven by the timing of the sale last year of its European cheese business and the purchase this year of US company Flavor Producers.

The company said it will pay an interim dividend of 15.64 cent per share and would launch a €50m share buyback programme.

This follows the completion of the previous €50m share buyback programme in June.

Glanbia reports results in US dollars, while its shares are listed in Dublin, so the buyback and dividend are reported in euro.

Guidance

Glanbia reiterated its full-year guidance of 5% to 8% growth in adjusted earnings per share.

CEO Hugh McGuire said the company delivered a strong performance in the first half of the year. He said the company’s flagship brand, Optimum Nutrition, delivered double-digit volume growth in the period.

Glanbia’s performance nutrition division showed a volume increase of 3.1% and a 3.9% drop in pricing, while US Cheese saw both volume and price decline.

The strong performance of Optimum Nutrition was offset by volume declines in the SlimFast brand, which was “impacted by headwinds in the weight management category”, the company said.

Investor reaction to the results was lukewarm, with shares down more than 2% to €17.66 after the opening of trading in Dublin.