Bernard Matthews returns to profit
Year-round turkey producer Bernard Matthews has seen a return to profit in the most recent 12-month trading period, on the back of growing sales and continued investment in the business.
Profit from continuing operations came to £5.3m in the year to July 2012, from sales of £341m. This compared with an operating loss of £6.6m over the previous 18-month period.
Turkey consumption grew by 4.4% in the UK over the full year, and Bernard Matthews enjoyed a particularly strong Christmas in 2011.
But the group’s German and Hungarian subsidiaries had a tougher time. Bernard Matthews Oldenburg in Germany struggled from the poor summer weather which adversely impacted barbecue sales, as well as rising raw material costs.
The Bernard Matthews Group
Bernard Matthews
Bernard Matthews is a totally integrated food business based in Norfolk, employing around 2,200 people and producing seven million turkeys a year.Saga Foods
This wholly-owned subsidiary is a leading turkey farmer and meat producer in Hungary, employing 800 people and selling fresh, cooked and frozen cuts of meat into central European markets.Bernard Matthews Oldenburg
With its headquarters in northern Germany, BMO sells fresh, cooked and frozen poultry products on the German market and to bordering European countries. It employs 130 people.
Similarly, SáGa Foods in Hungary experienced increased input costs allied to relatively weak commodity meat pricing and the continuing difficulties in the Hungarian economy.
Overall, the outlook for the business in the next 12 months remains “cautious”.
“While performance in the last financial year has been encouraging, there is still significant progress to be made,” said chief executive Noel Bartram. “We have continued to incur unprecedented feed cost increases and do not envisage such increases abating over the coming year. With consumer spending and the wider economy remaining weak, we are cautious on our outlook for the next 12 months.
“Nonetheless, we remain focused on our strategic objective of doubling turkey consumption in the UK by 2020 and are encouraged by the 4.4% growth over the last year. I believe this to be a reflection of our continued efforts to promote turkey as a healthy and affordable meat.”
With consumption of turkey per head in the UK still only a third of that in the USA and less than half of that in France, Germany and Italy, Bernard Matthews sees significant potential for growth, especially as turkey meat remains “an ideal choice for cost-conscious consumers”.
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