Frozen-food group Birds Eye Iglo run up losses of over GBP202m (US$319m) in 2009 as finance costs hit the UK-based firm’s bottom line.

According to accounts filed at Companies House, Birds Eye booked a net loss of GBP202.8m compared to net profit of GBP18.7m in 2008 as the business incurred finance costs of GBP215.2m.

Birds Eye, which is owned by private-equity firm Permira, also saw its operating losses widen from GBP2m in 2008 to GBP27.4m in 2009 thanks to impairment costs on a subsidiary in France.

The group’s revenue, meanwhile, fell to GBP56m in 2009 from GBP71.4m a year earlier.