The makers of the Glenisk organic yogurt brand last year sustained a €9.59 million revenue hit due to the impact of a fire that destroyed the firm’s main production plant in 2021.
However, new consolidated accounts show that the Cleary family owned Cordagrove Ltd. recorded a pre-tax profit of €5.14 million for 2022.
This was due to ‘other operating income’ of €10.8 million that was mainly made up of an insurance payout though no breakdown is provided in the accounts.
The ‘other operating income’ includes government grants of €657,718.
Commercial director with Glenisk, Emma Walls confirmed that the insurance payout “inflated the operating income” but declined to provide the exact amount.
The other operating income of €10.8 million for 2022 compares to ‘other operating income’ of €1.94 million for 2021.
Fire
The September 2021 fire destroyed the company’s production plant and revenues of €21.26 million for 2021 declined by 45% last year to €11.67 million.
Walls said that “2022 was a very challenging year for Glenisk”.
The Co. Offaly firm recommenced yogurt production in early February 2022 with the launch of three individual product lines.
Walls said that products were reintroduced during the year on a phased basis with the individual product lines count reaching 40 by year end.
She said that this represented less than half of Glenisk’s pre-fire individual product lines.
Walls said that the smaller number of individual products “and the fact that we did not trade for a full year had a significant impact on revenue, all of which is linked to the fire at the end of September 2021”.
She added that Glenisk is the fastest growing brand in the yogurt category business and has made progress in 2023 with 69 individual products in production.
“The business will not achieve pre-fire revenues in 2023 but, based on rate of growth, we are optimistic that 2024 sales will bring us closer.
“Glenisk continues to invest heavily in infrastructure at the Killeigh site to return capacity to 100% of pre-fire volumes,” Walls said.
Glenisk
The business currently employs 78 people and Walls said that there were no forced redundancies or lay-offs arising from the fire. “The business is committed to retaining staff,” she said.
Staff costs last year declined from €5.34 million to €4.38 million, according to the financial accounts.
“Notwithstanding the significant challenges of the past two years, the business is optimistic about its recovery and future growth. Glenisk is a resilient business.”
“Established more than 35 years ago, it has successfully navigated many challenges in its history and its success has been built on its commitment to organics, its brand differentiation and its category innovation,” Walls said.
The profit for last year takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €397,829 and research and development spend of €2.66 million.
Nine members of the Cleary family are involved in the business.
In June of this year, the Cleary family re-assumed 100% ownership of the business after Danone sold its 38% share in the business.