Sweet maker Tangerine swallows plummeting profits

The Blackpool maker of sweets like Sherbet Fountains, Dip Dabs, Black Jacks and Refreshers and popcorn Tangerine Confectionery has suffered the bitter taste of 65% falling profits as the national debate over sugar raged.

High exchange rates at the end of 2015 and in the first half of 2016 also played their part as European competitors took advantage in the UK market.

Both these factors contributed to nosediving pre-tax profits of £3.26m for the year ended December 31 (2015: £9.44m).

Turnover was down to £139.3m from 2015’s £151.9m figure, while the EBITDA assessment also fell from £20.6m in 2015 to £14m.

The directors’ report accompanying the company’s accounts said: “The high exchange rates resulted in penetration into the UK from European suppliers and uncertainties caused by the debate on sugar led to the reduced promotion of sweets in the trade.”

Good sales performances were recorded for its Butterkist Popcorn, Branded Sugar and the International business, but the Retail Own Brand business was impacted by the reduction of certain contracts and in some instances the removal of confectionery from till-points.

Meanwhile, production difficulties incurred following the closure of a factory in March, 2015 were still affecting the Tangerine performance at the beginning of 2016.

The company also invested £6m on projects to increase the capacity and efficiency of its production processes.

Staff numbers were stable at 1,448, with the company spending £31.515m on wages (2015: £34.96m).

Tangerine’s 12 directors were paid a total of £1.229m (2015: £2.07m) while the highest paid director received £213,000.

TheBusinessDesk.com has contacted Tangerine for comment.