UK dairy firm Arla Foods UK has said it has made good progress in its first full year of trading, boosted by the strong performance of the Cravendale and Lurpak brands.

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The company, which was formed through the merger of Express Dairies and the UK unit of Arla Foods, reported underlying pre-tax profit of £52.1m (US$99.1m) for the 18 months to 20 September 2004. Sales for the period were £1.7bn. The company said the results were in line with expectations.


“The first full year of trading as Arla Foods UK has been one of very good progress towards all our key objectives: building our brands, forging ever stronger relationships with milk producers, developing our leadership in technology and providing growth potential for our customers,” the company said.


Arla Foods UK said it had maintained its share of the UK supermarket fresh milk sector.


“Our brands continue to perform strongly, and we anticipate significant growth in Cravendale milk when additional processing capacity comes on stream next summer. With our rationalisation programme nearing completion, ahead of schedule and in line with our original cash cost projections, we will realise the full projected synergy benefits of the merger almost a year ahead of plan,” said chairman Sir David Naish.

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