Over €2 billion wiped off Glanbia shares in less than six months

By COLIN BARTLEY

THE VALUE of one of Kilkenny’s biggest and best known companies has been slashed by 40% in just under six months.

Glanbia PLC has seen over €2.2 billion wiped off its value, with the share price plummeting since the company announced a profit warning last month.

The largest shareholder in the PLC, Glanbia Co-op has seen over €900 million wiped off their investment. 

Glanbia Co-op, the farmers owned section has over 16,000 members and owns a 31.5% share of the Kilkenny headquartered company.

The agri-food giant has seen its share price hit its lowest level in six years and the share price has halved in value since March this year.

This near 50% drop in the value of the shares, mostly in response to the below expectation showing of Glanbia’s performance nutrition division, has seen the shares drop to just under €10 each. Just six months ago the share price was closer to €19.

Last month Glanbia issued a profit warning on the back of a 30% earnings drop in the first half of the year. The company blamed the drop on tough international trading conditions and consumers continuing to drift to online sales in the performance nutrition side of Glanbia, which accounts for 56% of the group’s earnings.

Since that warning, the share price has continued to drop-off. Today alone the share price dropped by over 4% in early trading, but subsequently recovered slightly.