Muller suffers £97 million loss in restructuring
Yoghurts giant Muller fell to a £97 million loss last year as it bore the continued brunt of restructuring the business.
Market Drayton-based Muller UK and Ireland achieved revenues for the period of £1.4 billion – having made £685 million in the second half of 2013, the first period of trading for the newly-restructured company.
Muller, which has plants at Telford and Minsterley as well as its Market Drayton headquarters, saw its performance affected by the dismal market value of liquid milk, an issue that was addressed in a report accompanying the accounts.
The company continues to invest, however, and during its last financial year agreed an £80 million deal for the dairies business of industry rival Dairy Crest – which is expected to be completed by the end of 2015.
"Trading in liquid milk has continued to be challenging and the business' focus has remained on identifying cost reduction activities within our supply chain and delivering these in a professional manner," Muller said in a statement accompanying its figures. The acquisition will help protect the business against some of the uncertainty in the market and improve economies of scale."
The company says it actually achieved an operating profit in 2014 of more than £81 million when excluding the costs of its restructuring.
The £97.8 million loss comes because Muller has spread the cost of the restructure over a five-year period.
Cost-saving measures included a decline in the number of staff employed by the business, and the closure of a depot in Cornwall.
The company also saw its share of the UK yoghurts market decline, as supermarkets ended a number of special promotional periods on Muller products.
"Market share in the chilled yoghurts and potted desserts decreased from 22.9 per cent at the end of December 2013 to 22.5 per cent at the end of 2014," the statement added.
"This was primarily due to a reduction in promotional activities with some of the larger retailers.
"Despite this Mullerlight and Cadbury's continued to perform extremely well and the introduction of new products such as Fruitopolis and Bliss helped improve margins and maintain volumes."
