Greenhalgh’s sees costs rise
NORTH WEST bakery chain Greenhalgh’s saw was hit by higher raw material costs as the price of wheat and energy rose last year, according to its latest annual accounts.
The Bolton company, which has a bakery in Lostock, 60 shops across the region and employs 900 people, said sales in the year to the end of January this year crept up from £23.6m to £23.9m.
Higher raw material costs (up £800,000 to £7.3m) meant total operating costs rose by more than £500,000 to £24.1m, leading to a higher operating loss of £131,862 (£45,007 in 2011).
An exceptional gain of £718,098 during the year was reported after the administrators of collapsed Icelandic bank Kaupthing, Singer & Friedlander, refunded more money to it.
Greenhalgh’s had £6.5m on deposit with the bank when it collapsed in October 2008. It has now received back more than £4.1m from the administrators.
The refund and a higher intererst receivable gain helped the family-owned company report a small pre-tax profit of £24,095, down from £38,603 in 2011.
It also finished the year with shareholders funds of £16.6m and net assets of £5.4m, which an accompanying directors’ report described as “satisfactory given the current recessionary climate”.
Greenhalgh’s is owned by various members of the Smart family and has its headquarters at its Lostock bakery, which is run by operations director David Smart.
