The Board of AE Rodda & Son Group Ltd are pleased to report the business performance for the financial year of 2019/20.
The turnover for the year end increased to £38m, having been £36m in the previous year – the success has been attributed to continued improvement with business performance and the fruition of the full benefits of the company’s restructure that took place in 2018.
The operating profit, before exceptional costs and other operating income, is £1.877m. The gross profit improved to 24.7% from 19.9% in the last year reflecting lower production costs, improved efficiencies and ongoing restructure savings. The business became cash generative for the year, which has been generated from operating activities of £4.2m (2019: £421k).
Strong cash generation from the trading and settlement of an outstanding claim gave a good start to the year 2020/21, allowing financial headroom for the remainder of the year.
Bank and asset finance have reduced substantially during the year from £4.1m to £1.7m.
This excellent result has been achieved whilst continuing to pay one of the higher UK non-aligned milk prices. In 2019/20, Rodda’s average standard litre price was 29.1p/litre with the average actual price paid being 30.82p/litre
The Rodda’s brand has continued to cement its national and international market leading position in the clotted cream category. This remains the focus of the business going forward. The business is providing continued marketing investment to grow brand’s reach, not only through its loyalists, but also by appealing to a new, younger generation of consumers, which has been very successful for 2019/20.
