More disposals are on the cards at Hazlewood Foods as Irish parent Greencore continues its rationalisation and restructuring plan. Greencore has already introduced sweeping changes at Hazlewood, scrapping its Derby head office, selling the FH Lee paper business and closing ready meals plants at Dunstable and Wrexham. And Hazlewood chief executive Peter Woodall told The Grocer further disposals were on the cards: "We've made no secret we're looking to reduce the number of companies within the combined portfolio. "We have 14 sales memoranda in circulation." Greencore should be able to make a large acquisition on the continent in 12 months when its debt position had improved, said Woodall. The merger of Greencore and Hazlewood would yield annual cost savings of £7m, he added. Analysts said the results showed good prospects for core parts of the business, and the likelihood of further disposals of "peripheral" parts of the portfolio. Greencore posted a 32% rise in pre-exceptional operating profit to 46.7m euros on sales up 73.6% to 729m euros in the six months to March 30. {{NEWS }}