Kerry chief executive Hugh Friel told shareholders yesterday that "new product development" was the lifeblood of the agribusiness group.

Addressing the annual meeting in Tralee, he said the Kerry model continued to depend very highly on capitalising on the changes that were taking place in the market. Periods of no great change in tastes meant sluggish performance, he said.

Mr Friel said he remained optimistic about emerging and new markets but he warned shareholders they would have to wait between three and five years before there was any decent return from these markets.

Mr Friel assured farmers at the agm that the group remained committed to milk.

Performance to date in 2005 had been satisfactory, he said.

The agm approved a total final dividend of 14 cent per share, an increase of 10.7 per cent. Shareholders also voted to increase the maximum amount of fees payable to directors in any one year from €650,000 to €1 million.