Inter Link Foods report record growth
record profits for the eighth year running.
Preliminary yearly results for the company show a 20.7 per cent growth in profits, bringing the total profit before tax, amortisation of goodwill and exceptionals to £7.1m (€10.3m).
For the year ending May 6, company turnover rose from £98.1 (€141.9) to £130 (€188) and sales in bakery rose 3 per cent in the first eight weeks of the year with like for like sales rising by 9.9 per cent.
Over the course of last year Inter Link Foods, who supply multiple major retailers in the UK such as Tesco, launched over 254 new products from its subsidiary businesses and concentrated on consolidating operations - moving a range of businesses to more cost-friendly premises.
Executive chairman, Alwin Thompson said: "This focus on operating from fewer, more efficient, cost-effective sites will bring considerable savings to the Group during the next few years."
The company bought a new 50,000 sq ft facility in Blackburn, England last year which will house production lines brought over from the closure of smaller sites.
Rising demand also led them to shut down their New House Bakery and move production to the larger Yorkshire Cottage Bakery.
Growth in demand has also affected Soreen - the business Inter Link acquired in 2003.
Demand for the firm's signature product, a malt loaf, has outstripped supply, requiring the acquisition of additional production facilities due to open shortly.
In a bid to further increase its hold on the market, Inter Link plan to enter the pudding market this year. It will produce both Christmas and all-year puddings under the Mrs Peeks brand. The facilities for this new line are predicted to open in spring 2007.
Traditionally, the Christmas market is an area in which Inter Link have prospered. They are the UK's largest manufacturer of the product. Over Christmas 2005, they sold 120m and the number is expected to rise to 140m this holiday period.
Since 1994, Inter Link Foods, who produced Disney-branded small cakes, have bought more than 10 cake making businesses as well as operating facilities in Poland. The AIM-listed company now own 13 bakery sites in all.
Polish subsidiary, Cukiernia Mistra Jane (CJM), have benefited from capital investment this year, launching 14 new products and contributing £6.3m (€9.1) to the firm's overall success.
Following the release of the preliminary report, shares in Inter Link rose by 48.5p to 387.5p.
