Milk Link has booked rising half-year earnings as the UK dairy co-op benefited from the contribution of Llanddyrnog Creamery and lapped last year’s first half when the company faced a reverse in stock profits.
The company posted pre-tax profit of GBP12.2m (US$19.7m), up from GBP3.6m a year ago. Milk Link’s EBITDA for the six months to 2 October stood at GBP21.3m, against GBP12.5m a year earlier. Turnover rose 9.3% to GBP283m.
Chief executive Neil Kennedy said Milk Link’s results were “satisfactory” and “sustained the momentum created by the business in the previous six months”.
Kennedy said Milk Link faced “unprecedented” levels of promotion in the Cheddar category although the company partly offset that due to its business benefiting from strong dairy commodity prices.
“At the same time, our improved first half financial performance compared to the same period in the prior year also reflected our benefiting from a full six months of contribution from our Llandyrnog Creamery acquired in June 2009 and not having to manage the impact of a reverse in stock profits as was the case in H1 2009,” Kennedy said.
