Increased revenues and operating profit for Lakeland Dairies

Lakeland Dairies, the largest cross-border dairy processing co-operative on the island of Ireland, has announced results for 2022, with increased revenues and operating profit, while paying a very competitive milk price to milk producers throughout the year.

Farmer owned Lakeland Dairies collects over 2bn litres of milk from 3,200 farm families across 16 counties in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Lakeland Dairies’ revenues increased by 45% to €1.9bn across its four operating divisions of Food Ingredients, Foodservice, Consumer Foods and Agribusiness, up by €590m on the prior year figure of €1.3bn.
This yielded an operating profit of €32.5m, up by €4.3m (+15%) and EBITDA (Earnings before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation) of €60.2m, which increased by €4.8m.
During the year, Lakeland Dairies distributed €1.1bn in payments to milk supplying farms across 16 counties.
Lakeland Dairies closed the year with a strong balance sheet including Shareholders’ Funds of €273m.
Food Ingredient revenues increased by 43% to €1.19bn.
Foodservice revenues increased by 39% to €310.9m, up by €87m on the prior year figure of €223.9m.
Consumer Foods experienced a 60% uplift in revenue to €272.9m, up by €102.7m on the prior year figure of €170.2m.
Summing up it was noted that 2022 was challenging given overall market volatility, including supply chain disruption due to the war in Ukraine and unprecedented increases in the cost of energy.

While raw material costs increased significantly and this influenced animal feed prices, Lakeland Agri sought to minimise increases for all customers.

Lakeland Dairies Group Chief Executive, Colin Kelly said: “Market conditions for 2023 are proving much tougher for our suppliers and will remain contingent on global factors.

Including the overall balance of supply and demand, across our extensive product portfolio, while economic uncertainty remains a serious concern, with the potential for continued market volatility.

“In the years ahead, we will seek to optimise the strengths that Lakeland Dairies has established to date while also continuing developments on an ever more sustainable platform.”