Hibernia Foods plc Announces Closure of Bristol Facility; Decision Expected to Increase Hibernia's Future Profitability as a Result of Lower Cost of Manufacturing.

Business Editors

DUBLIN, Ireland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 28, 2003

Hibernia Foods plc (Nasdaq:HIBNY) today announced that it will close its ready-meals and cake manufacturing facility in Bristol, UK, and relocate production to other Company locations. The closure and relocations will be completed during the second quarter of the new fiscal year, which commences April 1, 2003. In addition to consolidating the number of food-processing plants to five, because the Company will be lowering its cost of manufacturing, profitability will improve.

The Bristol site was acquired in 1998 when the Company purchased the Entenmann's and Mr Brain's businesses from Bestfoods UK Limited. The Company intends to transfer production of the Entenmann's products to its significantly larger branded bakery in Bridlington, North Yorkshire, which produces Sara Lee bakery products. Production of the Mr Brain's line will be transferred to one of the Company's other existing locations.

Commenting on the closure, Oliver Murphy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hibernia, said, "Once the moves are completed, we expect a significant improvement in our gross margins during the second half of fiscal 2004. The incremental fixed costs associated with producing the Entenmann's line at the Bridlington site are significantly lower than continuing to operate a bakery dedicated solely to one line. Furthermore, we will maintain adequate capacity to deliver our revenue growth targets. In conjunction with the relocation of Mr Brain's, we also will be investing in new state-of-the-art machinery to further improve efficiencies, and hence, gross margins."

Hibernia expects the savings associated with the plant closure to be approximately EUR 5 million to EUR 8 million, or EUR 0.20 to EUR 0.32 per share, per year following the closure. An estimated one-time charge of EUR 9 million to EUR 12 million, or EUR 0.36 to EUR 0.48 per share, is anticipated, to be taken commencing in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2003, consisting of severance and other exit costs of EUR 5.5 million to EUR 7 million and a non-cash charge, with respect to the write down in the carrying value of certain facilities, equipment and other assets totaling EUR 3.5 million to EUR 5 million.

Mr. Murphy also stated, "As we approach the end of our fourth quarter, I am pleased to report that I expect our revenues and profitability to be in line with our previously communicated expectations. We intend to provide further guidance in relation to fiscal 2004 in conjunction with our fourth-quarter earnings announcement in May 2003."

Hibernia Foods plc is a leading European manufacturer of branded cakes, branded and private-label ready-meals and branded and private-label frozen desserts, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, with significant manufacturing facilities in the United Kingdom. It is the exclusive European license holder for Entenmann's branded sweet-baked cakes throughout all of geographical Europe, representing 52 countries and a population of over 700 million people and is the exclusive UK and Ireland license holder for Sara Lee branded frozen desserts.

This document, as well as some press releases and oral statements made by our management in their presentations about Hibernia, contains "forward-looking statements" regarding Hibernia's future performance and financial condition. "Forward-looking statements" are defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and include statements which give management's views on the future of Hibernia, the industry in which it operates and the economic conditions surrounding it. These forward-looking statements are based on our management's current views, projections and assumptions concerning the future, and include words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "estimates," "believes" and similar expressions. No one should construe such statements as guaranties of the future performance of Hibernia. All such statements are inherently subject to risks, uncertainties and other important factors, which are beyond Hibernia's control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the statements. Among those risks and uncertainties are the matters described in "Risk Factors" in Hibernia's Form 20-F for its fiscal year ended March 31, 2002, as updated from time to time in its subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, projections of sales, earnings and volume growth, share prices, competitive conditions, purchasing decisions of our customers, production costs, currency valuations, achieving cost savings and working capital, debt reduction programs, success of acquisitions, innovations, and supply chain and overhead initiatives. Hibernia specifically disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.