Orwell, 18 July 2023
Dairy nutrition company Volac has today, Thursday July 13th, 2023, announced its financial results for the year ending 31 December 2022. Turnover for the calendar year was up £103.9m (37%) to £382.8m, with pre-tax profit of £34.8m, increasing from £8.3m from the previous year. This performance was supported by strong market conditions in the whey protein market, after several years of challenging conditions when the market was negatively influenced by the COVID pandemic. As Europe’s leading player in the supply of high-performance whey proteins and following significant capital investments, Volac was able to respond to a spike in market demand to deliver significant sales growth in premium markets and take maximum advantage of its sustainable wood chip biomass energy plant as well as benefiting from the full integration of our 2021 acquisition of Micron Bio-Systems.
James Neville, Volac, summarises for the Whey Nutrition division:
“2022 was an unusually successful year for our business as despite the challenging global trading environment, including significantly increased energy costs and high commodity prices through the year we were able to grow our Whey Protein sales volumes and make maximum utilisation of our recent, significant investments at our Felinfach site”.
David Neville, Group CEO stated for the Animal Nutrition division:
“We are very satisfied with our performance as we completed the full integration of Micron Bio-Systems into our business, both in the UK and the US, as well as delivering record profit from our Global Feed Fats Joint Venture with Wilmar.
2023 will be a challenging year as market conditions become more difficult and cost inflation persists. We will be making further investments in our sites and commercial activities ensuring we continue to grow and develop our business.”
Key metrics for 2022 include:
Sales Development
- Sales increased by 37% to £382.8m (2021: £278.9m), reflecting higher sales volumes in Performance & Dairy Ingredients and the impact of higher commodity prices across the group.
Profit and Cash Flow
- Pre-tax profit of £34.8m, up from £8.3m in the previous year
- Cash flow from operating activities was £36.4m, up from £8.0m in the previous year.
Increased Investment in Sustainable Growth
- The Group invested £7.6m in fixed assets during the year, across our Animal Nutrition and Whey Nutrition sites.
- Investment in 2023 is expected to be higher as we continue to invest across all of our sites
Employees
- Employee numbers increased to 468 versus 418 in the previous year.
- The increase in employee numbers is due to the continued growth of the business.
Outlook
Whilst the coming year will be challenging, Volac remains confident in the future of its business and the dairy industry, as demonstrated by its recent significant long-term investment programme. We plan to continue developing new geographic markets, innovative product development as well as further strategic business development opportunities.
Press Enquiries
Melanie Hickey, Head of Communications
melanie.hickey@volac.com
07872 963661