Somerdale, British cheese and dairy exporter, has published its report and accounts for the year ended 31st March 2016.
The results demonstrate that Somerdale has continued to experience strong growth and development with increased sales being achieved in all of its core export markets.
Financial highlights for the year included a turnover of £32.3 million (2015: £28.1 million) an increase of 15%.
Profit before tax listed as £615,300 (2015: £472,400) an increase of 30%, with gross margin at 16.0% (2015: 11%).
In recognition of the ongoing growth of Somerdale’s international sales during the year, in April 2016 the company was awarded the Queens Award for Enterprise in International Trade, this is the second time that the company has won this prestigious award.
Commenting on the performance, Stephen Jones, Director of Somerdale International said: "I am pleased to be able to report that the business performed strongly at both a financial and operational level.
"We continue to invest in the business, its capabilities and presence in key international markets for the long term.
"As a result, we believe we are making good progress in putting in place the necessary strategic developments to ensure the future growth of Somerdale."
Financial and operational performance
Somerdale’s financial performance came against the backdrop of a highly volatile dairy market.
Trading conditions during the year saw low commodity prices (created by global over production of milk and relatively weak demand for dairy commodities), and a strong dollar, which created favourable trading margins.
At the same time, Somerdale continued to benefit from the substantial investment the business has made over the last five years in developing its UK infrastructure and effective routes to the international market for over 250 great tasting British cheeses made in some of the country’s leading creameries.
This included the acquisition in 2014 of a 10,000 sq. ft., ISO 9001 accredited and fully SAP enabled, cold store and offices which provided Somerdale with a state-of-the-art base from which to source, consolidate and undertake shipments every week to customers across the globe.
Whilst during the 2015/16 year this was enhanced by Somerdale’s purchase of additional cold store facilities and office space adjacent to the existing Wellington operations.
The new facility will come on line later in 2016 and will provide additional capacity in line with Somerdale’s strategic growth plan for the business.
In addition, Somerdale has also continued to invest in its own dedicated in-market capabilities and resources providing international customers with ongoing support and advice on how to best market and sell what it believes represents the very best of British dairy produce.
This includes having a team of three sales people and a product marketing trainer in the United States and dedicated sales representatives in Australia and China.
These are complemented by an established network of trusted international shipping partners and in-market distributors with which Somerdale has built long term relationships.
