The UK’s largest fresh produce company, Fresca Group, has announced a 20 per cent rise in turnover, to £359.9 million in the year to April 30, 2006, and a pre-tax profit of £6.75m.
However, Fresca, which includes M&W Mack Ltd and its divisions, Primafruit and the 50 per cent owned Manor Fresh, saw its pre-tax profit decrease from £9.47m in the previous financial year.
The turnover increase is largely attributable to the acquisition of Primafruit, completed on April 29, 2005, but Fresca chairman Chris Mack (pictured) said the group “experienced a number of significant difficulties during the year”.
Mack said in his chairman’s statement: “With two notable exceptions of Primafruit and Mack Bananas, the majority of our businesses produced good results during the year, despite the pressure on prices that continues to be exerted by our larger customers.”
He added that the group’s banana business suffered from a shortage of import licences. “The cost of shipping thin air and the impact of fuel surcharges…together with the inflated licence price, hit the group hard in the period to December 2005, when the import licence regime was reformed and our contracts renegotiated,” he said.
Under the new regime, he claimed, Mack Multiples is in a much more competitive position than it has experienced since entering the regulated market in 1990.
Primafruit, added Mack, has proved the biggest challenge of the year for Fresca. “A new SAP system went live shortly after we acquired the business which presented some significant problems.
“The resulting lack of reliable data and control over stock and margins at Primafruit, together with the costs of sorting out the problems resulted in Primafruit making a substantial loss.”
As reported in FPJ last month, Tim Blackburn has become executive chairman of Primafruit and former managing director Craig Huth departed the company.
Mack expressed confidence that the problems of the last 12 months have now been resolved and that Primafruit still has “tremendous potential”.
Mack Wholesale and Mack Service both made good progress during the financial year. Manor Fresh, the result of the joining in March of Fresca’s DGM Growers and the potato and vegetable business of principal competitor Geest/QV, also performed well
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