Latest news with #ConorGalvin
Irish Examiner
15-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Kerrygold maker slows its US investment on tariff war
Kerrygold butter maker Ornua has slowed its US investment as it waits for more clarity on President Donald Trump's trade settlement with the European Union. 'Volatility and uncertainty in the last six to 12 months has meant that we slowed down our activities, particularly in relation to investments in the US, until we get a better sense of things going forward,' Ornua chief executive Conor Galvin said on a panel in Dublin. Tariffs on agricultural products are a challenge for the second-largest selling butter brand in the US. In April, Ornua said it had already sold most of the stockpiles it exported to the US ahead of a potential trade war. Agriculture is a key sticking point between the EU and the US, as the two sides aim for a provisional trade agreement in the coming days, Bloomberg reported earlier. The EU is seeking a tariff no higher than 10% on agricultural exports, something that will be key for farming in Ireland, one of the country's most important indigenous sectors. Ornua reported continued volume sales growth in the US in 2024, reaching a record number of US households, according to its results statement in April. However, its full-year outlook is mired in uncertainty due to tariff uncertainty. The US is still an important market for Ornua, Galvin added, but admitted the 'rules of the game have changed' and will need to diversify away from the country. Bloomberg Read More EU targets Boeing, bourbon and cars in €72bn counter-tariff threat against Trump
Bloomberg
15-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Ireland's Kerrygold Butter Maker Slows its US Investment on Tariff War
Kerrygold butter maker Ornua has slowed its US investment as it waits for more clarity on President Donald Trump's trade settlement with the European Union. 'Volatility and uncertainty in the last six to 12 months has meant that we slowed down our activities, particularly in relation to investments in the US, until we get a better sense of things going forward,' Ornua Chief Executive Officer Conor Galvin said on a panel in Dublin.
Irish Times
23-04-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Aviva Ireland reinsurance deal with parent depresses profit at Irish business
Aviva Insurance Ireland ceded €70 million of net underwriting profit to its UK owner last year as it reinsured most of the motor, home and commercial insurance business written in the Republic with its parent. While the reinsurance deal with its parent – known in the industry as a quota share agreement – allows Aviva Insurance Ireland to share risks written in the Republic more widely across the group, it also depresses the reported profitability of the local entity in good times. Aviva Insurance Ireland, the third largest insurer in the Republic by premium income, reported an underwriting profit of €15 million last year, the company said in its latest annual solvency and financial condition report. The report notes that €70 million in net underwriting profit ended up with the UK unit under the reinsurance deal. The company reported a pretax profit of €22 million for the year, after €20 million of income from its investments portfolio and €13 million of certain expenses were also included, according to the report. READ MORE Aviva Insurance Ireland's gross written premium income rose 11.6 per cent last year to €668.1 million, it said. The figure includes some European commercial insurance business written through a UK branch of the company. Aviva Insurance Ireland reported in February that its business in Ireland generated €584 million of gross written premiums. This suggests that about €84 million of premiums were written through the UK branch. '1 in 5 US households consume Kerrygold' – Ornua CEO Conor Galvin Listen | 33:47 The Irish company has an arrangement in place to reinsure 70 per cent of general and health insurance risks – essentially passing on associated premiums – with its immediate parent, UK-based Aviva Insurance Limited. The deal sees it hand over 85 per cent of its European mobile phone insurance risk and 100 per cent of all other business written, according to the solvency and financial condition report. Of the €668.1 million of business written last year, €506.8 million was accepted by its immediate UK parent – the biggest amount ceded overseas by a general insurer in the Irish market. It equated to almost 76 per cent of total premiums. A spokeswoman for the insurer declined to comment on the intragroup reinsurance arrangements. Of the top five insurers operating in the State, only RSA Insurance Ireland, part of London-based RSA Group, shares such a percentage of risk. RSA Ireland ceded €306.8 million of its €399.9 million of gross written premiums last year. 'The main purpose of the group [reinsurance] treaty is to ensure effective capital, earnings management and to facilitate the company's underwriting capacity for its customers,' a spokesman said. 'The profit or loss ceded to the parent company depends on where the claims arise by lines of business.' The underlying division of income from the reinsurance contracts is complicated, however, by reinsurance commissions received by Irish entities from their parents to cover certain administrative and other costs associated with writing the original insurance coverage. Allianz Ireland has the third-highest intragroup reinsurance deal among the main insurers in the market, with a 50 per cent quota share agreement with Allianz Re Dublin DAC. Both are part of the German-based Allianz Group. Axa Ireland, the largest insurer in the Republic, and FBD Holdings, the fourth-largest and only indigenous Irish player, reinsured 2.6 per cent and 7.6 per cent of the business they wrote last year, according to data in their reports. FBD reinsures with third parties; Axa Ireland did not report any quota share deal with its French parent in its report.
Irish Times
22-04-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
IBRC liquidators hand €360m over to State as wind-up nears end
The liquidators of Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC), home to the remnants of Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide Building Society, handed over €250 million of surplus cash to the Exchequer last week, bringing total distributions in recent years to €360 million. The disclosures were made by Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe on Tuesday as he published the 11th annual progress update on the liquidation of IBRC. It comes as legislation is going through the Oireachtas aimed at rolling IBRC into the National Asset Management Agency, before the combined entity is ultimately wound up and its remaining assets are transferred to a new resolution unit within the National Treasury Management Agency. The €360 million has been paid in respect of ordinary shares the Government holds in IBRC following the crisis-era nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide. READ MORE '1 in 5 US households consume Kerrygold' – Ornua CEO Conor Galvin Listen | 33:47 It is in addition to €1.7 billion received since IBRC was put into liquidation in 2013. These relate to State debt claims, driven by a government guarantee scheme being tapped as part of the liquidation. The progress update said that 'further distributions will be made as the remaining assets are realised'. 'At inception, the IBRC loan portfolio had a par value of €21 billion. At the end of January 2025, that value stood at €3.1 billion, representing a significant reduction in the overall loan portfolio,' said Mr Donohoe. 'I want to take this opportunity to formally acknowledge the exceptional progress made by the special liquidators of the IBRC in maximising the return on IBRC's portfolio to date.' IBRC's liquidators are also in the process of selling most of the assets left on the company's books - including several properties that once belonged to businessman Seán Quinn's family. However, it faces difficulties selling Ukrainian and Russian assets due to the war between the countries. The latest report indicated fees incurred in the liquidation in the 25 months to the end of January were €8.6 million, bringing fees incurred since the beginning of the liquidation in February 2013 to €319.4 million.
Agriland
21-04-2025
- Business
- Agriland
What's the secret of Kerrygold's success in the US?
It is not every CEO that ventures out of the boardroom to go to a supermarket and stand beside a chilled display cabinet to find out what consumers really think of a product – but when comes down to Kerrygold, normal rules tend not to apply. Last year more than 12 million retail packs of Kerrygold butter and cheese were sold every week in 2024 throughout the world and according to latest figures the brand also reached 'a record number of US households' last year. By the end of 2024 Kerrygold was the number two branded butter in the US and the number 'two block butter brand' and the fastest-growing brand in the category in the UK, while in Germany it was the number one butter brand in the market. None of this, according to Conor Galvin, the CEO of Ornua which owns the Kerrygold brand – and a man who stands in stores 'asking consumers why they buy Kerrygold and what they use it for' – is any accident. 'Kerrygold is 60 years old, it does take patience in terms of developing markets and even in the US market, it has taken us around 20 years to get to where we are,' he said. Kerrygold But it does appear that over those 20 years or so Ornua has managed to build what many businesses never achieve in the US market and that is brand loyalty. According to Galvin when he does ask US consumers why they buy the Kerrygold brand their 'faces light up'. 'It is a unique product in the US market, the experience of Kerrygold both in the appearance of it and in the performance of it – whatever you are using it for – is different to practically anything else you can buy in the US. 'We're very lucky to have a consumer that is so loyal,' Galvin said. Source: Ornua But the CEO of Ornua is also very clear that there is one key ingredient that is fundamental to the success of Kerrygold in the US and that is Irish farmers. 'Dairy farmers give us the fuel that we use to make the product, the grass fed milk that is skimmed, gives us the cream that we churn in Kerrygold Park and it really is the essence of the brand and that is how the product is unique,' Galvin added. He is also very clear about why it is so important to ensure that consumers not just in the US but on a global scale continue to remain loyal to the Kerrygold brand. 'Our purpose is to give a livelihood to Irish farm families and that is what all 2,800 people in Ornua are focused on doing. 'For Ornua, the focus remains on value growth and ensuring we maximise the return for every litre of milk,' he said. The co-op's annual report for 2024 shows that Ornua purchased more than €2 billion 'premium Irish dairy products' last year and also delivered an Ornua Value Payment of €72.8 million for the year, made up of cash bonuses and additional premiums paid to its member co-ops. According to Galvin Irish dairy 'remains a unique proposition' that not just US consumers are loyal to but that 'the world wants'.
