ANM Group reports big profit fall from 2004

anm group reports big profit fall from 2004

SCOTLAND”S LARGEST farmer-owned business, the Aberdeenshire-based ANM Group, has reported a trading profit of 1.33m in 2004, down 199,000 on the previous year. Throughput (sales on commission plus direct sales) increased by 546,000 to 159m, while turnover was up 5.7m to almost 78.6m.

At the group”s annual meeting on Apr 5, directors will recommend a dividend of 6.5% for the 7500 members.

More than half of the overall drop in trading profit was in the auction business. The figure fell 113,000 to 340,000, due to higher costs. In the meat processing businesses, chief executive Brian Pack reported better news. Scotch Premier Meat increased trading profit by 41,000 to 624,000 during the year, while Yorkshire Premier Meat, which struggled in 2003, achieved 471,000, up 106,000.

acquisition

Overall, given the challenges the group faced in 2004, Mr Pack said the trading profit was satisfactory. And the acquisition during the year of two new food companies – Highland Country Foods, in Forres, and Charcuterie Continental, near Glasgow – showed ANM”s determination to continue down the route of diversification and adding value, he added.