The writing is on the wall for Malton Foods after chalking up first half losses of £5.4m and dragging down profits at parent Uniq, the food and logistics group. Malton was for years regarded as the jewel in the crown of the British bacon industry. Uniq chief executive Sir Ross Buckland conceded finding an "industrywide solution for Malton" effectively meant selling it outright or entering "some sort of partnership" although he wouldn't elaborate on how the latter might work. Either way, the solution would be found "during 2001". To reduce losses in the meantime as the disparity between UK and continental pig prices and the strength of sterling continue to squeeze its margins, Malton would buy even more foreign pigs, bringing the percentage of imported animals up well beyond the current 40%. High prices exacerbated by low availability have pushed UK pig prices up to an "unsustainable premium," said Buckland. But a dismal set of results from Malton should not obscure the solid performance from the remainder of the business, stressed chairman Ian Martin. Uniq will still be around this time next year, he insisted, amid speculation a slimmed down Uniq post the demerger of Wincanton Logistics would become increasingly vulnerable to a takeover bid. He declined to comment on whether he had already received approaches from potential buyers. Malton's "disappointing" performance (trading profits down from £1.3m to -£5.4m on sales down from £279m to £258m), high interest payments incurred from last year's purchases, and the divestment of its dairy and cheese arm to Dairy Crest sent pretax profits plunging 39.2% to £28.7m on sales up 9.9% to £1.152bn. After exceptionals and goodwill amortisation, the group recorded a pretax loss of £2.5m. With cash in the bank from the Dairy Crest deal and limited opportunities in the UK, further acquisitions to boost the convenience business in Europe are likely, said Martin: "We're well placed for bolt on acquisitions, to fill both geographical and brand gaps in the portfolio." Trading profits at Uniq Convenience Foods were up 18.9% driven by a strong performance from sandwiches and spreads. {{NEWS }}

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