Setbacks depress profit of dairy group Milcobel

This is evident from the filed annual report. Milcobel now also has yourself published a report on the website. Turnover from operating activities increased from €1140 million to €1.366 million. The majority of that turnover, €1.049 million, came from the regular dairy activities, while the ice cream division Ysco achieved a turnover of €317 million.

The increase in turnover at Milcobel was largely caused by the sharp increase in dairy prices last year, as was the result throughout the dairy sector. As a result, the value of the inventories also rose sharply. At Milcobel these increased from 32% to 35% of the balance sheet total. Operating profit fell from €15,7 million to €9,8 million for various reasons, while consolidated profit fell from €10,7 million to €4,4 million. Overall, turnover in the Belgian home market increased from €405 million to €495,7 million, or a plus of +22%.

Cheese problems
One of the causes of the decline in profit was a Listeria contamination at the Moorslede factory, resulting in a temporary shutdown, a significant reduction in production capacity and a loss of volume in the market. Certain cheeses were temporarily moved to a Dutch factory, other types of cheese could not be put back on the market until last spring. In Southern Europe, on the other hand, success was also achieved in cheese sales. The mozzarella activities produced mixed results.