Peder Tuborgh, group chief executive officer, said that the reported total full year net profit of €75m reflected a number of factors linked to milk supply concerns and the wider global economic downturn.

“Contributory factors also include the decline in foreign exchange rates, consumers buying less and opting for cheaper products, and milk supply exceeding demand,” he stated. “The final months of the year were worse than feared and as a consequence we had to downgrade our expectations for the year in December 2008.”