Tirlán will ask members at the co-op’s annual general meeting on 6 May at the Lyrath Hotel to approve an annual dividend payment of 5.0 cent per share.
This payment will be an 80% reduction on the dividend of 23.05 cent per share paid in 2025.
The total cost to the co-op from the proposed 2026 dividend will be approximately €1.5m. Last year it distributed €7.7m to shareholders through dividend payments.
A spokesperson for the co-op said that during 2025 Tirlán spun out 15 million Glanbia shares to members. The dividends paid on those shares last year by Glanbia equated to €6.1m, which now go directly to members, rather than to Tirlán, presuming those members held on to the Glanbia shares they received.
During 2025 there were two transactions which reduced Tirlan’s shareholding in Glanbia
The spokesperson added that it is proposed that the reduction in the 2026 dividend is rebased to remove the €6.1m Glanbia dividend from the Tirlán distribution to members as the co-op no longer receives it. The spokesperson described the reduction as structural, rather than performance related.
During 2025 there were two transactions which reduced Tirlan’s shareholding in Glanbia. The first, in May last year was the spin out to members. The second was the repurchases of the €250m bond, which was bought back using Glanbia shares. Combined, this meant that by the end of 2025, Tirlán’s shareholding in Glanbia had dropped from around 75m shares to approximately 43.5m shares.
The payment per share received by Tirlán from Glanbia in 2025 amounted to 40.53 cents. Presuming a similar payout in 2026 – and Glanbia have suggested they would increase dividends by around 10% – Tirlán will receive over €17.5m in dividends in the current year from Glanbia.
Taken together, Tirlán dividend income from Glanbia will drop by approximately 37% in 2026
Both the spinouts in 2025 came after that year’s payment date for its main annual dividend, with the second coming after the cut-off date for the interim dividend. Tirlán’s total dividend earning on its stake in Glanbia in 2025 was €28m.
Taken together, Tirlán dividend income from Glanbia will drop by approximately 37% in 2026, while the dividend distribution from Tirlán to its members will fall by approximately 80%.
The spokesperson said that the reduction in dividend paid to members is “fully explained by the removal of [Glanbia] dividends now paid directly to members,” and that “when viewed on a combined basis, total member dividends are maintained or improved”.
They added that “the board is also conscious of the need to strike a balance between share interest (dividend) payments and support schemes for active members.”
Under the terms of Tirlan’s 2022 member distribution reserve, there will also be a payment of 3.4 cent per share made around the same time as the 2026 dividend payment. This arises as non-trading members reached an agreement where all members would receive dividends equal to around 10% of any farm support payments from reserves.
Glanbia vote
At this week’s Glanbia AGM there is a vote scheduled which will give authority to Glanbia to make off-market purchases of its own shares from Tirlán.
The purchase is limited to 4.99% of Glanbia’s share capital, and any such purchase is made at either the relevant market price on the date of the purchase, or at the offer price if the purchase is made in conjunction with an institutional placing by Tirlán as determined through a book building process.
Tirlán said the inclusion of the proposal in Glanbia’s AGM does not suggest that the co-op has any plans to offload more of its shareholding in Glanbia.
There are a couple of ways to look at the Tirlán reduction in dividend. For shareholders who are not likely to benefit from milk or grain supports, it will no doubt come as a disappointment.
There also may be some frustration in the decision to cut dividends this year
The argument that the net effect for members who kept their shares in Glanbia does strike me as weak, as it seems to be counting member earnings that no longer have anything to do with Tirlán. There also may be some frustration in the decision to cut dividends this year, even though in 2025 Tirlán saw no reduction in its dividend income.
From Tirlán’s perspective, the dividend income from Glanbia is money that can be used at the co-op’s discretion. With the dairy and grain market outlook for 2026 looking so uncertain, it would seem wise to keep as much money aside for support payments as possible.
When it comes down to it, it probably makes little difference to suppliers whether they get that money through milk and grain price top ups or whether they get them through dividends.
SHARING OPTIONS