UK dairy co-operative First Milk posted a rise in annual operating profit despite a “challenging economic environment”.
For the year to 31 March, operating profit was up to GBP9.66m (US$17.7m), an improvement of GBP9.13m on the previous year.
Profit before tax of GBP3.5m showed a “significant” improvement from the prior year’s loss of GBP2.01m, First Milk said.
“Our strong balance sheet underpins our future plans and gives us resilience against a challenging economic environment,” said Peter Humphreys, chief executive. “We are currently consulting our members on broad capital structure proposals, and they will vote on these at our AGM in November.”
The company reported a 24% increase in group turnover to GBP602m, compared with the previous year’s result of GBP484m.

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By GlobalData“Throughout the year we continued to deliver high levels of service to our raw milk customers including Dairy Crest, Wiseman Dairies and Nestlé, while minimising the cost of haulage through efficient planning,” added Humphreys.
First Milk relaunched cheese brand Scottish Pride in Scotland in June 2007 and achieved listings with a number of major retailers. The company also launched the Lake District cheese range in November.