UK dairy giant Dairy Crest has issued a pre-close trading update for the six months to 30 September, in which it says that it expects half year profit to be ahead of last year.
The group said that it expects the 'combined volumes of our four key brands, Cathedral City, Country Life, Clover and Frylight, will be ahead of last year. This is an improvement on the first quarter where they were in line with last year.'
However, the business' margins are likely to be impacted by inflation in the dairy industry.
"Recently we have seen inflation across all dairy markets," said Mark Allen, chief executive.
"To date we have announced increases amounting to 12 per cent in the milk price we pay our farmers. Cream prices have been particularly affected, doubling over a very short period. This sudden cost inflation is likely to have an impact on butter volumes and margins in the second half.
"As a strong branded and added value business, Dairy Crest is well placed to deal with inflationary pressures. As such our outlook for the full year remains unchanged."
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
