Despite a number of challenges, Northern Ireland-based poultry meat company Moy Park reports its turnover up by 4%, and profits 13% higher than the previous year’s performance.
The latest results represent the first full year since the acquisition of Moy Park by U.S.-based Pilgrim’s Pride in 2017, and show increases in turnover and profitability, as well as a larger workforce.
Annual turnover by Moy Park Europe (Holdings) was GBP1.6 billion (US$1.99 billion), which represents an increase of 4% from the previous year, reports Belfast Telegraph, while pre-tax profits were up by 13% to GBP49.7 million.
The firm has a total workforce of just over 10,300 at 12 locations in England, France, and the Netherlands, including more than 6,200 at its Northern Ireland facilities in Ballymena, Craigavon, and Dungannon.
Almost one-quarter of Moy Park’s business is in the Euro-zone, according to Irish News. It processes around 6 million chickens per week, and some 600,000 turkeys each year.
In the year in which the firm celebrated its 75th anniversary, Moy Park initiated a GBP43-million investment program, which its president Chris Kirke plans to increase to GBP45 million in 2019. The firm has maintained its policy of zero waste to landfill, and has significantly reduced food waste.
Kirke highlighted a number of issues that present challenges to the firm, including high feed prices, as well as uncertainty over Brexit.
The group has access to a global supply chain and expertise to meet these challenges, according to the company report, and its focus on domestic markets will help mitigate against negative impacts of the UK’s departure from the European Union.
The latest fiscal results from Pilgrim’s Pride — Moy Park’s parent company — show the group saw net income for the second quarter (to June 30) up by 60% compared to the same period of 2018. Net sales in Europe were down in value, which the company attributed in part to “input cost conditions.”
Two years ago, Moy Park was acquired by Pilgrim’s Pride. With weekly slaughtering amounting to around 4.2 million birds, the Northern Ireland-based firm company is the 9th largest broiler producer in Europe, according to the WATTAgNet Top Poultry Producers database.
