Profits have fallen by nearly £10 million year on year at Boparan Holdings, the parent company of 2 Sisters Food Group, following the hygiene breaches last year that forced the firm to close its West Bromwich cutting plant for several weeks to retrain staff.
According to second quarter financial results for the 13 weeks ending 27 January 2018, published today, total sales rose 2% to £849.7 million, and like-for-like sales were up 1.5%. However, pre-tax profit fell from £12.3 million during the second quarter 2016/17 to £2.4 million this year, a fall of £9.9 million. Operating profit margin declined from 2.4% to 0.7% during the same period.
The firm said it had delivered robust revenue generation despite tough market conditions It noted there was a consultation exercise underway regarding the potential closure of three UK poultry sites as part of a move to consolidate poultry operations around modern specialist manufacturing sites.
Ranjit Singh, President of Boparan Holdings Limited, said: “During the second quarter we have delivered a solid top line revenue performance, but our near term profitability has been impacted by the major challenges we have faced during the period. We are focused on the basics, and the investments we are making provide a clear springboard to drive through meaningful and lasting change across the business.
“Despite the recent challenges in our UK poultry operations, our change programme is building on firm foundations, with strong core businesses; over 22,000 hard-working and dedicated employees and strong, long standing customer relationships. We will be working with renewed vigour with our customers and through our people to deliver what has always been at the heart of our business – delivering great quality food at competitive prices for our customers.”
Martyn Fletcher, Chief Operating Officer, said: “In everything we do there is a relentless focus on delivering great quality, service and value to our customers. We have a clear and comprehensive improvement plan in place and are making good progress so far. There is more to do, but already we are seeing the impact of lots of small, but important changes we’re making at our production sites and across the company. We are determined to achieve the highest quality products, standards and best in class service our customers rely on.”