Zetar profits healthy after snack purchase
Humdinger and Readifoods, food buyout company Zetar has announced
growing profits for its second year of business.
The company's preliminary results for the year ending April 2006 showed a turnover of £57.9m (€84.85m) and operating profits of £4.9m (€7.2m).
Snack makers Readifoods and Humdinger are recent additions to the Zetar portfolio which initially only encompassed the confectionery subsidiary Kinnerton and are part of the group's emphasis on healthier snack products.
Established in the last year, Zetar's Natural and Premium Snacks division now comprises of the two companies.
Readifoods, produce nuts, seeds and snack mixes, while Humdinger import, process and distribute fruit snacks and rice crackers.
Zetar's chief executive, Ian Blackburn, said: "Solid foundations for future growth have been laid down with the establishment of our two core divisions and we will seek to acquire further complementary businesses with our strategic focus on companies that offer healthier options, quality products, innovation and service at competitive prices."
Readifoods was taken over by Zetar in March and has so far contributed £0.8m (€1.17m) in sales and £30,000 (€43,966) in operating profits to overall group figures.
Plans are underway to increase the company facility by 4,000 square feet, thereby increasing capacity for additional packing and improvement in the separation of material flows within the factory.
Sale of Humdinger was only completed mid-July but, according to the company, is expected to make a significant contribution to future Zetar sales.
New product development and expansion in the natural and premium snacks division will see it forming a more integral part of the Zetar portfolio in the next year.
In the long-term, the company would like to incorporate three main divisions - confectionery, snacks and an overseas presence.
