A Liverpool-based group which makes food and animal feed and can trace its roots back to 1858 saw its profits plunge as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, new figures have confirmed.
The Billington Group has posted pre-tax profits of £2.7m for the 12 months to August 30, 2020, down from £10.1m during the prior year.
Its turnover also decreased from £361.7m to £319.7m over the same period.
The group manufactures and distributes food, animal feed and other agricultural products as well as the trading of agricultural commodities.
Retail sales for the group's English Provender brand increased year on year while B2B revenue was impacted by a fall in good to go sales in the supermarkets. The group added that costs were "re-aligned" and that the business "performed well".
For Billington Foodservice, sales volumes were affected by Covid-19 while TSC Foods' retail volumes were "positive" but were offset by reductions in foodservice volumes because of the pandemic. The group added that costs have also been "re-aligned" in TSC.
Cridde and Co, which is part of the group's agricultural arm, operated "similarly" to the previous year while Carrs Billington Agriculture "performed well".
The group's other arms include Wholesome Sweeteners and The Billington Barn and Kitchen.
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During the year the number of employees decreased from 1,814 to 1,697.
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A statement signed off by the board said: "The year started well for the 海角视频 food businesses and during the first half the businesses performed in line with expectation.
"The second half of the financial year was impacted by Covid-19 in our foodservice businesses whilst our retail focussed activities performed better than expected.
"The Covid-19 pandemic brought challenges for most businesses this year. This brought both trading challenges and exceptional costs including restructuring costs.
"The actions taken at an early stage included re-alignment of the cost base and working capital reductions.
"As a result, our debt reduced by £9.8m year on year to £17.4m and the directors believe that the group remains in a robust position committed to its customers."