Total Produce plc has revealed a full-year underlying pre-tax profit rise of 7.9 per cent to €38.9 million (£29.7m), ahead of its expectations.
Total revenues rose 30.6 pct to €2.43 billion and revenues excluding share of joint ventures grew 36.4 per cent to €2.15bn.
The majority of this increase was in the general produce division and reflects in particular the acquisition of Redbridge Holdings in January 2007 and the contribution of a significant number of bolt-on acquisitions during the year, the company said.
The company, which is the demerged produce marketing and distribution business of Fyffes PLC, did not pay a dividend last year, but said it has proposed a final dividend of 1.15 cents per share raising the total dividend for the year to 1.65 cents per share.
For 2008, the company is targeting mid-single digit growth in adjusted earnings per share.
Commenting on the results, Carl McCann, chairman, said: “We are pleased to have achieved very satisfactory results, which are ahead of expectation, in our first year since demerger. The Group’s earnings were up 11.4 per cent and the business has grown by 30.6 per cent since last year.”
