September 15, 2010

Moy Park reports strong profits in 2009

The owners of Moy Park, Northern Ireland's largest poultry processor recorded a profit of GBP18.3 million (US$28.34 million) in 2009, just 12 months after making a GBP38-million (US$58.86 million) loss.

The figures were revealed in a financial report filed at Companies House in Belfast by food giant, Mafrig.

A major restructuring programme in 2008 to improve business performance helped contribute to the company's profits in 2009. Moy Park was sold to the Brazilian conglomerate in 2008 for GBP450 million (US$697 million).

The company's financial report showed that despite challenging conditions faced by the food industry, Mafrig increased its sales by almost 6% from GBP737.7 million (US$1.14 billion) to GBP780.6 million (US$1.2 billion) in 2009.

In May, Moy Park announced it was acquiring rival chicken processing firm, O'Kane Poultry. The combined group will have 5,000 workers but the takeover process could result in up to 30 redundancies, mostly in administrative posts.