The chief executive of British pet food group Dalgety this week finally succumbed to the pressure of profit warnings and plummeting losses, and , in the words of the chairman, " took the honourable course and fell on his sword " The group also unveiled a grim set of annual results accompanied by confirmation of its intent to sell-off some food-related divisions. In future Dalgety will concentrate on building up its core pet food interests. Dalgety produced losses of £72 million sterling in the year to end June with exceptional charges of £138 million wiping out pre-tax profits of £66 million. The outgoing Richard Clothier joined the group in 1993 and by the following year had steered Dalgety to a record pre-tax profit of £120 million. Since then a mighty mess of Augean stables proportions has built up in the corporate litter- tray which requires a Herculean tidy-up operation.

The clean-out starts with the disposal of the both the Lucas food ingredients and Spillers flour milling businesses, now on the market as part of a major group restructuring. Some Irish companies could be interested parties in picking up the lose assets, if the price was right. Kerry Group is already nosing around the Lucas bakery ingredients, flavourings and coatings business with Greencore and IAWS also seen as possible bidders for the businesses.