"It's a difficult, volatile market, and the business has got off to a slower start to the year than envisaged," said Chief Executive Officer Dalton Philips.

Greencore said while inflation has been easing in some raw materials and packaging, labour and energy costs continued to hit earnings.

The group said it is focusing on recovering costs from customers.

(Reporting by Muhammed Husain in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)