ANM back on track as losses narrow

The farmers’ group has shed its loss-making meat processing subsidiaries in the past year and reduced losses from £2.5 million in 2011 to £477,000 last year.

“It’s important to note that our remaining core businesses are profitable,” said Machray. “Our discontinued operations incurred trading losses of £1.9m last year but our continuing operations delivered a trading profit of £1.4m. We now need to invest for the future as opposed to absorbing losses.”

Machray stressed that the business was financially sound with assets of £20.5m and bank borrowings down £7m to £3.4m. Selling or closing meat processing businesses in Inverurie, Sheffield, Glasgow and Forres cost the group £3.7m last year following trading losses of £3.97m the previous year.

The group has retained a  25 per cent stake in the Yorkshire business, which was the subject of a management buyout, and a similar shareholding in Scotbeef Inverurie, which is a joint venture with Scotbeef of Bridge of Allan. This company has plans to build a new abattoir on a site at the group’s Thainstone Centre near Inverurie.

The core business of Aberdeen & Northern Marts turned in a profit of £1.354m last year, down from £1.677m in 2011. Plans are in hand to improve efficiency by investment in IT and energy efficiency, including a carbon management programme, and the commercial development of the Thainstone site.

Shareholder Tom Stewart, of rural consultant Hayes Macfarlane, congratulated the board on turning the business round, but warned that the core business was likely to face difficult times because of the continuing decline in the Scottish beef herd.

The warnings were already there with the fall in throughput and profits of the mart business, he said, and the board should consider attracting members with wider experience of the financial world.

The marts business sold more than 90,000 cattle and 283,000 sheep last year for a total value of £106.4m plus 57,000 lots of non-livestock sales.