Fane Valley, the Armagh based co-operative, involved in a joint venture with Slaney Foods International and Irish Country meats, saw group profits rise 50% to €10.5m. Turnover was up 17% to €648.9m. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased 25% to €16.2m.

These include the group’s share of its joint venture in Slaney and Irish Country Meats, where revenues were up by 13% to €157.9m. These operations accounted for €2.9m of the total group operating profits. That is down from a €3.6m contribution in 2012, although Slaney handled 6% more cattle and ICM lamb numbers were up by 19%. This follows substantial investment in recent years, supported by Enterprise Ireland, with the addition of a new boning hall and new abattoir at Slaney Meats.

Fane Valley has involvement in red meat through Linden Foods. Its sales were up by 19% to €409.5m. This include its share of Slaney, ICM and Kettyle Foods and Lonhienne’s in Belgium, where there is further processing and distribution of lamb sourced from ICM. Business has grown in all of these, with Kettyle dry-aged beef exported to Holland, Germany and Dubai. Slaney does no retail packing, focusing on selling meat to the UK and Europe.