Dairy Crest has completed the sale of its stake in yoghurt brand Yoplait as the dairy giant tightens its focus on its stable of core products.

The sale of the 49% stake in Yoplait will raise £63.5m for Dairy Crest, which will be used to reduce the group’s debt.

Dairy Crest announced the deal as it unveiled a rise in like-for-like sales of around 10% for the past 12 months in preliminary figures.

Sales of Cathedral City cheese are expected to be up 20% by value and 10% by volume for the year ending 31 March, while Country Life – boosted by the Great British Butter campaign fronted by former Sex Pistol John Lydon – is set to see a rise to between 25%-30%.

Overall sales at its Dairies division were up 4%, as milk volumes rose by the same percentage.

“Despite the well-documented tough environment, we are pleased to report that we have traded in line with our expectations over recent months,” said chief executive Mark Allen.

“Our key brands have benefited from our decision to continue to invest in advertising and promotions and we are well placed to deliver volume growth going forward. In addition we continue to reduce costs across the whole business with particular focus on our dairies division.”

He added: “The sale of our stake in Yoplait Dairy Crest is consistent with our strategy to focus on and invest in core brands that we own outright. The sale also substantially reduces group debt and provides us with more headroom under our banking arrangements.”

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