First Milk posts US$16-million loss

First Milk, the largest dairy farm cooperative in the UK, has announced a pre-tax loss of GBP9.9 million (US$15.8 million) on the year's trading.

The loss was GBP7.1 million after tax, compared to a profit of GBP2.8 million a year ago. Turnover for the year amounted to GBP582 million.

First Milk took GBP12 million from its reserves to support milk prices and to put more money into the company pension fund.

Half of the loss was due to a non-recurring charge brought about by restructuring and redundancies at two of its sites.