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Chairman’s Statement
I am pleased to present the Annual Report of Norish Plc for 2007.
During 2007 the Group performed well compared to 2006, mainly as a result of additional sales activity and a reduction in the group administrative expenses following the closure of the Dartford Head office.
Results
The Group announces pre-tax profits of £0.6m. This compares with pre-tax profits of £0.5m for last year. The profit per share from operations is 6.0p compared to 3.5p for last year. Net debt at the year-end decreased by £1.0m from £6.4m to £5.4m.
Operations
All of our cold stores performed better than last year. However, performance in the second half of the year was restricted by outbreaks of Avian Flu and Foot and Mouth Disease, adversely affecting inbound and outbound movements of stock at several of our sites.
Our ambient site at York opened the year with high occupancy but, as a result of changes in a major customer’s supply chain, storage volume declined resulting in the site currently making a marginal profit. A focused sales strategy has been initiated for the site which we are confident will deliver new opportunities.
The Bury St Edmunds, Wrexham and East Kent sites all secured new business with high throughput which has resulted in the improved performance from these stores.
Dividend
The board recommends the payment of a final dividend of €1.25c per share. This will bring the total dividend in respect of the financial year to €1.25c per share unchanged from last year.
Board
I am very pleased to report that Raymond French was appointed to the board on 1 March 2007. He is also a Director of the funds of Global Asset Management, (GAM) and Anglo Irish Bank Corporation (IOM) plc.
Personnel
On behalf of the board, I would like to thank our Managing Director, Norman Hatcliff our Finance Director, Aidan Hughes and their management team and staff for their commitment and contribution in 2007.
Trading Outlook
We have started 2008 with good occupancy levels and would expect our cold storage division to continue to perform well. However, the reduction in volumes at our ambient food storage business poses challenges to the profitability of this area of the business.
Ted O’Neill
Chairman
5 March 2008