A leading UK maltster has recorded a boost in profits despite a fall in turnover.
Ragleth is the holding company for Anglia Maltings, which owns the Crisp Malting Group and food ingredients businesses Edme and Micronized Food Products.
Accounts filed with Companies House reveal the firm posted a 6.2% boost in profits for the year ended December 31, 2015.
Pre-tax profits for the year were £13.017million, which is up from £12.253million the year before.
Turnover at the firm, which runs maltings at Portgordon, near Buckie, was down £4.058million to £112.87million.
Sales to the UK were down £6.787million to £94.655million, however export sales were up.
Sales to Europe increased by 24.8% to £4.876million and sales to the rest of the world were up 15% to £13.339million.
In the report accompanying the accounts, company directors said: “Group revenue in the year dropped by 3.5% despite including the first full year of trading results of Micronized Food Products. The main reason for the fall in revenue was the 8.5% fall in the average selling price of malt, coupled with a major reduction of 1.2% of the volume of malt sold.”
The directors said the company was focused on achieving the best margins possible in “these difficult trading conditions” through improved raw material procurement, increased production efficiency and tight cost control.
“In our food ingredients business we will continue our policy of focusing on value added products and will work diligently to improve our margins and avoid commoditising our products by participating in margin erosion through price cutting,” added the directors.
Tonnages handled by the Crisp Malting Group division, which also runs maltings at Alloa in Clackmannanshire, were down to 244.302 tonnes from 247,232 tonnes previously.
Turnover in the division was down 9.6% to £84.802million, with the bulk of sales made in the UK. Export sales were up 18.8% to £13.420million.
The accounts also reveal that the group, which employed around 251 staff in the year, gave its highest paid director a £15,000 pay rise.
The un-named director’s pay package for the year rose to £339,000.