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Arla Foods Posts £250m FY Profit

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Arla Foods Posts £250m FY Profit

Swedish-Danish dairy cooperative Arla Foods posted tremendous FY results yesterday as the company announced profits of £250 million (€304 million) for 2013.

This is as a result of a strong European business and rapid growth in its markets outside the EU – at a time when Arla’s most important ingredient, milk, has increased in value worldwide. 

Arla’s total revenue rose by over £1.1 billion (€1.34 million) to £8.4 billion (€10.2 billion), up by 16.6%. The company’s net profit was the forecasted 3% of the revenue, equal to £250 million (2.2 billion DKK), compared to £207 million (€251.8 million) in 2012.

In 2013 Arla’s revenue grew 35%in Russia, 60% in China, and 10% in the Middle East & Africa.

“Our growth machine lies outside the EU, where we expect to increase our sales rapidly between now and 2017. This is driven by Arla’s strong brands, which are in higher and higher demand by consumers in the growing middle class who are willing to pay for higher quality and better product safety," said Arla's Frederik Lotz.

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"We are building a long-term presence in Russia, China, the Middle East and Africa, which will give an even better return to the milk price for our cooperative owners,” said Lotz.

In the UK, Arla reported a "landmark year", where revenue climbed by 22% to £2.2 billion, after its merger with Milk Link in 2012.

A key aim for company in Great Britain going forward is to build its cheddar and speciality cheese business, after winning "the biggest cheese contract in its history", according to Arla's UK CEO Peter Lauritzen.

From April 2014, Arla Foods will supply 30,000t of cheddar to Asda, boosting cheese production by 50%.

© 2014 - European Supermarket Magazine by Enda Dowling

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