19th May 2016 07:16
LONDON (Alliance News) - Dairy Crest Group PLC Thursday said profit rose in the last financial year despite revenue falling over the period as the dairy firm increased its dividend for the year and said it is confident it can continue growing its market share.
The UK dairy firm said its pretax profit from continuing operations rose to GBP45.4 million in the year to the end of March from the GBP36.8 million booked in the previous year despite the fact revenue declined to GBP422.3 million from GBP448.2 million.
The cause of the profit rise was a GBP3.6 million gain from the disposal of closed Dairies depots and a GBP6.0 million gain from the revaluation of its investment in Promovita Ingredients Ltd, both of which were not present in the previous financial year.
The pretax profit from continuing operations but before exceptional items in the year totalled GBP56.7 million compared to GBP56.6 million a year ago and a lower tax payment allowed its profit after tax to rise slightly from last year.
Revenue fell from both its main markets in the UK and its other operations elsewhere around the globe. UK revenue dropped to GBP411.3 million from GBP432.8 million whilst other revenue dropped to GBP11.0 million from GBP15.4 million.
Dairy Crest said its final dividend for the year has been increased by 2.0% to 16.0 pence from 15.7 pence - giving the full year dividend a rise to 22.1 pence from the 21.7 pence paid last year.
"This is an exciting time to be leading Dairy Crest. Although we expect food price deflation to persist in the short term, the business is well positioned to deliver profitable and sustainable growth," said Chief Executive Mark Allen. "We are making progress with all of our four key brands and the continued investment we are putting behind them this year gives me confidence that we can continue to grow their market share."
The company's Catherdral City cheese brand saw volume growth of 6.4% in the year and sales growth of 0.8%. The Frylight oil brand saw volumes increase by 29% and sales increase by 28%. The Country Life butter brand saw a 3.9% lift in volumes but sales declined by 6.2%.
The Clover butter brand experienced the worst performance in the year, reporting a 6.4% decline in volumes and a 15% fall in sales.
"The other focus for 2016/17 will be on accelerating sales of demineralised whey and GOS, the new infant formula ingredients and continuing to explore further applications for GOS," he added.
Dairy Crest shares were down 1.2% to 575.0 pence per share on Thursday morning.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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