Irish dairy group Golden Vale and Express Dairies of the UK have agreed to combine their liquid milk business in Northern Ireland under the banner of Dale Farm Dairies. This will be owned 80% by Express, 20% by Golden Vale which is transferring the £4.7m assets of Creamline Products to the venture. Processing and packing will be carried out on the Express site at Ballymena, while Golden Vale will close its Lurgan plant. Having bought out and subsequently closed most of the the Glanbia liquid milk business in England and Wales, Express chairman Lord Haskins has strengthened the group's position. But announcing an underlying pretax interim profit of £24.1m for the half year to September 30, he warned: "Trading conditions will remain difficult until further action is taken to eliminate surplus capacity." Short-term factors which will affect the second half are the higher costs of raw milk, packaging and fuel, he added. {{NEWS }}

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