Arrabawn Co-op has reported record revenues along with profit growth in 2020, despite a year of “significant challenge”, its annual results show.
The co-op’s AGM – held online for the second year running – revealed that turnover was up by €12.8 million to €278.4 million, with EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) reaching €10.4 million, an increase of €2.9 million on 2019.
Average milk price paid was 34.37c/L, which was an increase of 0.61c/L over 2019, with milk supply reaching 437 million litres – an increase of 6% on 2019.
Operating profit for the year was €2.68 million. This was before an exceptional charge of €1.1 million due to a restructure and product recall at its liquid milk facility. Net debt was also reduced by €3 million.
Arrabawn new casein and effluent plan
2020 also saw the successful commissioning of Arrabawn’s new €30 million casein and effluent plant at Nenagh. According to Arrabawn, the investment ensures “sufficient capacity to deal with milk pool growth for the coming years”.
Ingredients was a big performer in 2020, with tonnages particularly strong in butter, casein, caseinate and whey. Agri-trading was up by 8%, with feed, agri-hardware and general hardware the biggest growth areas.
‘Tested the resolve of everyone’
Conor Ryan, Arrabawn CEO said that Covid-19 “tested the resolve of everyone, but the agri-sector stood firm again in the face of this crisis”.
“Our liquid milk division had a challenging year. We responded to this by conducting a review of operations and implementing a related restructuring programme and improvements,” he said
“These measures are aimed at putting the business on a more solid footing in what is an increasingly challenging liquid milk market.
“Our agri division, meanwhile, had a very strong year. Staying opened enabled us to not alone provide for the needs of our suppliers, but the wider public during a difficult year and resulted in a significant growth in new customers and trade.
“The fact also that we had no Covid outbreak of significance across our entire employee base again reflects the professionalism and adaptability of our staff.”
Arrabawn chairman Edward Carr added: “The two key takes for our suppliers are that, despite fears of a contraction, milk price overall was up on 2019 and that we have now completed and commissioned our new plant, giving us the capacity to cater for the anticipated growth in our milk pool in the years ahead.”