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The latest accounts to the end of September 2017 show a significant increase in turnover at Dungannon-headquartered Linden Foods. It increased from £182.7m to £199.3m, but still translated into a relatively small operating profit of £336,640, up £85,000 on the previous year.
The company, which operates NI’s largest abattoir, alongside its flagship meat processing facility in Co Tyrone, also owns a small abattoir at Burradon in the north of England, plus has a 95% shareholding in Fermanagh-based Kettyle Foods. Linden Foods employs more than 1,100 people.
It is the last set of accounts where Fane Valley Co-op is the parent company of Linden Foods. In October 2017, the European Commission formally approved a proposal for a new joint venture (JV) between Fane Valley and ABP in NI. It means ABP and Fane Valley now each have a 50% stake in Linden Foods, and is an arrangement that mirrors an existing joint venture (in place since October 2016) between Fane Valley and ABP in the Slaney Foods business based in the Republic of Ireland.
As a result, the list of directors for Linden Foods in NI now includes senior representatives from both ABP and Fane Valley Co-op.
Fane Valley accounts
The most recent accounts for Fane Valley Co-op, also to the end of September 2017, show that the Slaney JV is an important contributor to overall group profit, bringing in £3.24m, compared with just under £2m in 2016.
After two years of losses, Fane Valley performance has improved, recording a £7.17m profit to the end of September 2017, compared with a loss of £1.91m the previous year.
As well as the JV, the other main contributor to that is the Fane Valley Feeds business, which had operating profits of £3.27m on turnover of £64.1m. The store business is also contributing to the stronger financial position, yielding an operating profit of £1.22m on turnover of £27m, while the Whites Speedicook business recorded an operating profit of £0.72m on turnover of £12.33m.
Total turnover
While Linden Foods didn’t contribute much to the bottom line in 2016/17, it still accounts for nearly two-thirds of total turnover for the Fane Valley group of companies (excluding the JV in the Republic of Ireland).
That group turnover stood at £429.6m in 2014, but is down significantly since then, to stand at £314m in 2017, mainly the result of the decision to get out of milk processing in the spring of 2016, selling the loss-making Armaghdown Creamery business to Lakeland Dairies.
However, with 50% of the Linden Foods business now owned by ABP, Fane Valley Co-op turnover looks set to be down again in 2018.
For now, it is a much smaller business than it once was, but being profitable means there is potential to grow into the future.
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