Chief Executive’s Review
Nick Whelan
I am pleased that Dale Farm is reporting a solid year for 2019/20, despite some challenges we faced within our industry. These strong financial results, which saw us achieve Group operating profit of £12.2m, Group profit before tax of £9.8m, EBITDA of £19.3m and overall Group turnover of £504.5m, are the combined result of continued investment, excellent customer partnerships, our farmers, and most importantly, a team of hard-working, dedicated people, in every part of the business.
Chief Executive CHALLENGES During 2019/20, ice cream and feed markets were negatively impacted by weather – a situation beyond the control of the business that had a direct impact on sales within our business. We were also challenged by aggressive pricing from our competitors within the GB desserts market. This area continues to prove extremely competitive. The year brought with it a great deal of uncertainty in the run up to the decision around Brexit.
On behalf of our farmers and the dairy industry, I engaged with local government and Westminster regularly to stress the damage that a ‘no deal’ Brexit would have had on agrifood in Northern Ireland and encourage the best possible outcome for our sector. We continue to work in collaboration with food industry bodies including Dairy UK, Dairy Council for Northern Ireland and NIFDA in order to maintain that momentum and garner support for dairy farmers as the situation evolves.
We will remain focused on supporting our farmer members, unlocking the potential of our people, investing in our business and innovating to ensure our operations are efficient and our products are first class.
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Annual Report 2019/20
