DUBLIN, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Shares in nutrition

supplement maker Glanbia slid by 15% on Wednesday after

it warned that it expects earnings to fall by up to 11% this

year, hit by a longer than expected rise in the cost of whey, a

key raw material.

The Irish company also announced that it will sell its

underperforming U.S. weight management brand SlimFast as part of

a wider plan targeting annual cost savings of at least $50

million by 2027.

Glanbia reported a 6.8% increase in full-year adjusted

earnings per share (EPS) to 140.03 cents, in line with its

guidance, allowing it to increase total dividends for 2024 by

10% and approve a further 100 million euros of share buybacks.

However, it forecast that EPS would fall to between 124 and

130 cents this year, driven by a $200 million increase in the

cost of producing its performance nutrition products, cutting

the division's profit margin to 13-14% from 16.9% in 2024.

The company said that peak whey prices are now predicted to

continue into the second half of 2025, having previously

expected them to begin to fall in the second half.

Finance chief Mark Garvey said Glanbia now expects whey

costs to turn at the end of 2025 and into 2026 as supply

increases.

"What it actually means is the peak cost we're going to see

now in high-end whey in 2025 will be 20% higher than the peak

cost we saw post-COVID," Garvey said.

Glanbia took a non-cash impairment charge of $91.4 million

in its 2024 results to reflect SlimFast's performance challenges

and the decision to begin the sale process. SlimFast represented

7% of its performance nutrition division at the end of June.

The U.S.-focused company bought SlimFast for $350 million in

2018, but sales of its products have plummeted since 2022 as

weight-loss drugs upended the diet market and consumers moved

away from the low-carbohydrate diets that the 50-year-old brand

supports.