Moy Park has taken a number of extraordinary measures to protect cashflow in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, its latest annual report states, including a voluntary 20% pay cut among its top team.
The report covers 2019, but refers to events in the months following the reporting period.
The pandemic had led the company to take a number of measures to protect cashflow and profitability. These include suspending all non-essential costs, reducing capital expenditure to strategic projects and maintenance only, temporarily closing some foodservice production lines in April and May (although these are now starting to reopen), furloughing some team members under the government’s job retention scheme, and a voluntary 20% pay cut was taken by the leadership team for three months.
Moy Park’s turnover increased 0.8% to £1.58bn in the year ending 31 December 2019 , while operating profits before exceptional expenses rose 1.9% to £74.7m, according to its annual report. The directors said this result had been achieved as a result of its strategy of “unrelenting focus on cost control, excellent customer service and a culture of constant innovation.”
The firm invested £54m in its infrastructure in 2019, the report states. In 2019, Moy Park employed more than 10,000 people at its nine processing facilities.