Dr Oetker posts £15m profits but says trading is still tough
PIZZA maker Dr Oetker is the latest food manufacturer to complain of the “very tough trading environment” in the UK grocery sector despite revealing pre-tax profits of £15.5m.
The company, part of the German group of the same name, employs around 500 people in the UK split between its Leeds head office and its manufacturing site in Leyland, Lancashire.
Sales increased 5% to £154.8m in 2014, despite facing a number of price and competition challenges.
Doris Abeln, managing director of Dr Oetker UK, said: “There continues to be significant focus on own label within the major multiples, which when combined with increased demands for more frequent and deeper promotional support, and coupled with a slowing in the development of the grocery market, means a very tough trading environment.
“When you then additionally consider the ever increasing influence and success of discounters, on-line and convenience shopping in the UK and Irish grocery markets, the trading picture becomes tougher still.”
Dr Oetker, which makes Ristorante pizzas as well as a range of home baking products, recorded its first operating profit in seven years.
It acquired Leeds food company Supercook UK in 2008 and Schwan’s Consumer Brands in 2009, which created a multi-million pound drag on its accounts as the figures have been affected by the amortisation of goodwill from these deals.
