Wexford Beef and Lamb unlimited, the private company which owns Slaney Foods, Irish Country Meats and Wexford Proteins, made a pre-tax profit of €3.1m for the year ended September 2018.

The 50:50 joint venture between Larry Goodman’s privately held ABP Group based in Jersey and Northern Ireland’s Fane Valley’s Linden Foods reported revenues of €340m for the 12-month period.

The group made an operating profit of €3.4m. Operating margins were 1%. Shareholder funds on the balance sheet at year end were €60m. The company, which employed 972 people last year, recorded staff costs at €33m for the year.

Parent company

ABP bought the 50% stake in Slaney Foods, the parent company of Slaney Meats and Irish Country Meats, in 2015 from the Allen family.

Slaney Meats, which operates outside Bunclody accounts, processes around 100,000 cattle per year (6% of the national kill) while ICM outside Camolin and Navan processes around 900,000 sheep per year - 40% of the Irish sheep kill.

The move brought ABP back into sheep slaughtering in the Republic of Ireland after an absence. The company also owns Belgian lamb processor, Lonhinne.

ABP Group took a 50% stake in Fane Valley’s Linden Foods in 2017.