IDB blamed the drop in sales on the lower value of dairy products last year and a slump in volumes from its US distribution business.

But the company said there were some bright spots. It said the Kerrygold brand performed particularly well in 2009 while the commercial and food ingredients division performed strongly.

Ingredients division

In particular, the UK-based subsidiary Meadow Cheese Limited, returned to positive growth following a poor performance the previous year.

Meanwhile, Adams Food Ingredients (AFI), also based in the UK, is poised for growth as plans to build a new ingredients facility in Leek are under way.

IDB said this new premises will enable the company to access more UK market opportunities for Irish based milk powder ingredient products.

Profitability

Overall profits for 2009 came in at €37.7m helped by the strong performance of the ingredients division and an improvement in margins and volumes for the consumer products division towards the end of the year.

Looking forward, recently appointed IDB Chief Executive, Kevin Lane said the business would have to prioritise to achieve growth.

Lane: “We will focus in on the sectors that can grow the fastest and prioritise our time and future investments accordingly. I have every confidence that this business has both the capability and the opportunity to achieve significant growth into the future”