The owner of British
Sugar,
Associated British Foods, has today (3 November) announced it
increased pre-tax profits to £655 million in the last financial
year.
Better returns from its sugar business on the back of an
excellent beet crop last season and record sugar production of
1.19m tonnes was a key factor in the strong performance for the
year-ended 12 September.
Overall, ABF group revenue was up 12% to £9.3bn and adjusted
operating profit up 8% to £720m. With more than half of the group's
revenue and profit arising from outside the UK, the weakness of
sterling had a favourable effect on the results.
Sugar revenue and profit increased by 24% this year, with a
"sharp recovery in profit at British Sugar UK, reversing the trend
of declines in recent years".
Overall ABF sugar revenue was just under £1.6bn, while adjusted
operating profit from sugar totalled £189m.
"Our European sugar operations have emerged from regime reform
and profit is returning to more acceptable levels," ABF chairman
Charles Sinclair said in a statement.
The strong results came a month after British Sugar and the
NFU finally
hammered out an agreement on the 2010 beet contract that
effectively meant the price paid to growers would remain unchanged
next season.
ABF's agriculture division AB Agri also had a good year,
continuing to perform "well above expectations in a market that
experienced lower commodity prices but with continued volatility".
Grain and crop inputs business
Frontier produced "exceptional" results, while ruminant feeds
business KW Trident significantly increased its presence in the UK
blends market.
Overall, AB Agri revenue was up around £140m to £1bn, while
adjusted operating profit totalled £34m.