Shares in IAWS rose by 2.5 per cent yesterday after the food group posted a strongly positive trading update and dismissed investor worries over its marine protein business.

IAWS chairman Mr Philip Lynch told shareholders at the firm's annual general meeting that the company was confident of posting a "satisfactory" performance for the first half of this year.

He said the firm continued to "develop positively" across its businesses, including its fish-meal and fish-oil subsidiary, which has been the focus of some attention recently, as the market wondered how health scares in the Scottish salmon market would affect performance.

Mr Lynch stated unequivocally that the scare would have no negative impact on IAWS profits going forward. He pointed out that demand for fish meal and fish oil was well ahead of supply.

IAWS sells its products to the manufacturers of fish meal rather than to fish farmers.

Mr Lynch said the forward market for the division was "buoyant".

Shares in the company rose 23 cents to €9.38 after the statement was released.

Investors were also told that the company's agribusiness division had been trading well for the past few months.

Mr Lynch said the group's food brands in the UK and the Republic were "meeting their objectives year to date", with US operations also meeting the group's expectations.

Mr Lynch, who retired as chief executive of IAWS in October, was asked by one shareholder about the corporate governance implications of his installation as chairman of the group.

Mr Lynch acknowledged that the accession might not fit strictly within the corporate governance rules suggested in the Higgs report conducted for the Department of Trade and Industry in the UK last year but suggested that shareholders could oppose his appointment if they considered this appropriate.