Exceptionals wipe out Greencore's profits

It was a year of exceptional costs for Greencore (GNC). The biggest chunk of these one-offs was £29.7m of software impairments after management decided not to go ahead with the planned roll out of an "enterprise resource planning" platform across the UK. In second place was £16.5m of exit costs related to the phasing out of manufacturing at Greencore’s desserts facility in Evercreech, Somerset. Add in some transaction and reorganisational costs, and the total exceptional items bill was £78.2m, which hammered earnings (see table).