Glanbia has reported its half year results - total group revenue was €1.9 billion for the 6 months.
That's down by over 8% on last year on a constant currency basis - but it’s up by 4.4% when you factor in the strong performance of the US dollar.
This shortfall was due, in part, to a fall in global milk prices.
Adjusted earnings per share came to 40.6 cent - the group now forecasts earnings per share growth of 25 percent for the full year.
The Irish Times reports this morning that Glanbia paid just €200,000 tax on profits of €400 million registered by its subsidiaries in Luxembourg - that equates to a rate of close to 0.5%.
The Irish food group was one of the companies named during last year’s 'LuxLeaks' investigation, which exposed industrial scale tax avoidance in Luxembourg.
A spokesperson for Glanbia says that it uses "legitimate structures" to support its international expansion - and that the effective tax rate paid by the group is 17 percent.
Glanbia chief executive Siobhán Talbot commented on today's results, "Given the strength of the US dollar this is likely to translate to reported adjusted earnings per share growth of circa 25pc for the full year if foreign exchange rates remain at current levels."
