Danish Crown, the Denmark-based meat processor, has published its “best-ever” annual results, fuelled by growth in its overseas markets.
The co-operative booked full-year net profit of DKK1.65bn (US$287.3m) for fiscal 2009/10, up almost 42% on a year earlier. Revenue was up 1% at DKK45.21bn.
Danish Crown attributed the “massive growth” to lower costs in Denmark and “markedly improved results” outside its domestic market. Eighty-four per cent of Danish Crown’s processing takes place outside Denmark.
CEO Kjeld Johannesen said the company’s move in March last year to launch DC Future, a programme to make the group more competitive – and which led to job cuts and capacity reduction – had paid off.
“I’m not afraid to admit that without the very focused approach which has been taken with DC Future, our competitive edge would have been nothing like what it is today, nor would our results,” Johannesen said.
Danish Crown said the results meant it could pay the highest level of “supplementary payments” to its farmer-members in the company’s history.
