Wiseman milks Co-op contract

Published on Thursday 29 January 2009 20:23

ROBERT Wiseman Dairies has won a contract to supply a further 172 stores for the Co-operative Group, a deal that will add about 15 million litres a year to the company's production.

Announcing that production in the 17 weeks to January 24 was 6.3 per cent up on a year earlier, Wiseman said it would extend its business with the Co-op from the start of March.

East Kilbride-based Wiseman has supplied Co-op stores in Scotland for many years and won a contract to provide milk for the company in the south-west of England last October, a deal that has now been extended.

The company also hinted that profits for the six months to the end of March could be higher than expected, after it cut the price paid to its farmers by 1p a litre. Wiseman said in November that the falling price of bulk cream meant its second half profits could be as much as 7 million lower than expected, but yesterday said the impact may be now lower than that.

A spokesman said Wiseman continued to pay its suppliers a premium rate compared with its major competitors.

Shares in Wiseman fell 7.75p to 328p.