Botanical drinks maker Fentimans generated £260,000 of profit last year after the company managed its costs during the pandemic and made use of Government support schemes.
The Northumberland business made an operating profit of £260,535 for the year ending December 31, 2020. The figure is up from an operating profit of just £8,949 in 2019.
In its accounts, the board said it was pleased with its trading throughout 2020, which had been a challenging year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The pandemic, and the subsequent lockdown, led to many of the company's trade markets being closed for most of the year, which severely hampered sales.
The downturn did hit Fentimans' sales, which dropped from £41.4m in 2019 to £36.8m in 2020.
Fentimans' said that, despite the drop in sales of its botanical soft drinks, it had made a profit due to the management team successfully managing costs.
The company said: "Despite the backdrop of the global pandemic, the board of Fentimans Ltd are delighted to post a £260,000 operating profit for the year ended 31 December 2020.
"It was an unprecedented year of uncertainty driven by Brexit and the closure of the On Trade in the 海角视频 for most of the year, coupled with trading restrictions across most of our international customers, making 2020 a challenging year to navigate. That said, the business adapted to these changes swiftly, preserved cash and took trading opportunities as they arose.
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"Gross sales for 2020 were £36.8m (a reduction of 11% on 2019). Despite this decline, the business delivered a profit of £260,000 through the decisive actions taken by management and the careful control of costs throughout the pandemic."
Fentimans' use of the Government's furlough scheme allowed it to claim back a large chunk of cash which it put towards staff wages. The company received £223,259 in other operating income, of which £190,250 was furlough income.
But while the company placed staff on furlough, its overall headcount went up by one during the year to 66. The company hired one additional member of staff in both its production and administration teams, bringing the teams to two and 55 respectively. Meanwhile, the management team lost one member of staff and now stands at nine.
Last year was also the first year of trading for Fentimans' new US business, which it acquired last year. The US division reported sales of £3.2m, which the firm aid was a "pleasing start given the challenges across 2020". Fentimans described 2020 as a "year of investment" for its US branch.
Commenting on its results, the company added: "The business is on track to achieve its targets across the first quarter of 2021 despite the ongoing restrictions and we remain optimistic that we will deliver further growth as the pandemic restrictions lift around the world.
"This encouraging result reflects the extraordinary efforts of all our team members during 2020. We are proud and grateful for their efforts and optimistic that it will reap benefits in the years to come."