Transaction costs linked to the sale of investor Exponent’s stake in Meadow Foods led to a fall in profits for the dairy and plant-based ingredients specialist last year.
The Cheshire-based business, which trades as Meadow, posted operating profits of £24.7m in the year to 31 March 2024, according to its latest accounts. This represented a 10.2% fall on the previous year, while pre-tax profits fell by 16.3% to £20.6m.
Meadow cited £3.2m in non-recurring transactional costs, associated with the successful sale process to Fairfax Financial Holdings during the year, as the key driver impacting profitability. The sale of Exponent’s majority stake to Canadian investment firm Fairfax was announced in August 2023.
Turnover also fell in the accounting period, by 17.1% to £488.2m, primarily as a result of volatility in like-for-like milk prices – the company’s principal raw material – Meadow said.
But as a result of those falls in milk prices, cost of sales also fell, by just under 19% to £432m, with the underlying business remaining “strong” with volumes stable, it added.
“These strong results were achieved despite a continued challenging high-inflation environment,” said Meadow Foods CEO Raj Tugnait.
“Fairfax Financial Holdings’ ownership gives Meadow a strong and long-term backer to realise our plans. I am incredibly proud of the dedication and hard work demonstrated by teams across the business,” he added.
“These outcomes position us well to continue investing in new facilities, acquisitions [such as Naked Foods, which it bought in August 2023] and product development, enabling us to grow sustainably and better serve our customers.”
No comments yet