Fruit and confectionery sauce maker Fruitapeel saw sales and profits contract in its first financial period under the ownership of Belgian confectionery group Puratos, as it invested in longer-term post-acquisition growth.
Sales decreased 6% on a like-for-like basis to £10.7m in the 10 months to 31 December 2018 compared to £13.6m in the 12 months to the end of February 2018.
The reduction in sales, accompanied by rising staff and input costs, led to a 62% decline in like-for-like operating profit.Puratos UK finance director Panos Papapanagiotou said: .“The results reflect where we have chosen to invest and stabilise the business post integration.”
“Commonly in the first year of any acquisition, many areas require attention, investment and resource. In line with our strategy, Puratos UK took a decision to revise operations to improve safety, working environment and implement a scale investment in our system that will allow us to capitalise on the synergies of the two businesses as we legally merged in June this year under Puratos UK.”
MD Julia Darvill added: “In the face of a great deal of political adversity for our customers and their customers, Puratos remains committed to investing in talent, systems and technology that will accelerate our ability to offer game-changing innovation, unparalleled product quality and continue to deliver maximum value for our market.
“We will continue to invest in several areas of the business in 2020 which we should expect again to see in our results.”
Puratos acquired the business in December 2017 less than seven months a management buyout.
Established in 2006 Fruitapeel produces fruit and confectionery sauces for the retail and foodservice sectors across the UK, including ice cream brands, farm shops and artisan producers, as well as fruit purees, compotes, coulis, jams and preserves for the cakes and bakery industry.
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