Yeo Valley has seen its profits nearly double, as the dairy powerhouse reported a substantial £40m jump in sales for the financial year to 26 May, 2024. The Somerset-based firm revealed in its latest Companies House filings a pre-tax profit of £8.1m.
This impressive performance follows a strong recovery from the previous 12 months when it reported a pre-tax profit of £4.1m, signalling a return to profitability. According to the newly published accounts, the group’s turnover climbed from £315.9m to £365m across the financial year, as reported by City AM.
Despite this surge in pre-tax profit, Yeo Valley acknowledged that their profit margin, at 2.2%, remained below the aspirational target of 5%. On a regional breakdown, the UK turnover rose from £315.1m to £364.3m, and European figures edged up from £436,000 to £461,000.
Sales outside Europe, however, saw a slight decrease, down from £298,000 to £235,000. Staff numbers also grew over the period, with average employment climbing from 1,520 to 1,600.
‘There is more growth to come’
The board released an upbeat statement: “We are delighted that the last 12 months saw Yeo Valley continue its recovery from the challenges of Covid, labour shortages and high inflation.”
“This recovery has been driven by a growth in demand for products across our portfolio.”
“In these straightened times, consumers are seeking out high quality, affordable food that is good for them.”
“This has resulted, in particular, in a significant increase in our natural yoghurt volumes.”
“We are very proud of the quality of the products we make and the inherent health benefits of great dairy.”
“The investments we have made in automation have also helped to ensure that we can provide our customers and consumers great products at excellent value.”
“With the ongoing support of our amazing farming partners and our retail customers, we have been able to successfully respond to the growth in our business.”
“Excitingly there is also more growth to come.”
‘Large investment program’ launched
Yeo Valley has launched a ‘large investment program’ and has revealed: “The immediate outlook shows continued growth for our products and, as such, we have embarked on a large investment programme to increase our capacity.”
“Our yoghurt investment programme will ensure that we have the scale and automation necessary to grow with our customers and continue to offer them great value products.”
“We will also continue to increase our investments in growing the Yeo Valley organic brand with additional shopper acts action and product innovation.”
“Finally, we will continue to grow our dedicated farmer pools to ensure that all of our dairy ingredients come from the best possible farming systems that support climate, nature and animal welfare at all times”.