Cider firm sees profits hit by rising costs

Cider firm Aston Manor saw its profits dip last year as a result of inflation and supply chain issues.

The company, which has a production base in Tiverton, Devon, has had to deal with three years of disruption.

The company’s turnover increased slightly from £139m to £142m for the year to 31 December 2022.

However, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation were slightly down from £5.7m to £5.4m.

A spokesman said: “The quality of our response was informed by a clear strategy and was possible because of the capability that exists in all part of our business, both in terms of our processes and the quality of our people.

“Though, we are not complacent, and we continue to invest in leadership and people development as well as our capital equipment and resources.

“During the year we continued to trade effectively and made progress on our strategic objectives, including the development of new products in a range of categories.”

The price increases in materials, logistics had a major impact on Aston Manor.

Whilst the business moved to mitigate this challenge with some success, overall financial performance was still affected.

Chief executive Gordon Johncox said: “During 2022 and since, we have continued to develop our contract packing operation and our ability to produce non-alcoholic drinks for customers.

“We remain committed to making investments in our production capability and capacity to support our ambition to participate in profitable sectors, exiting low margin business, alongside providing exceptional product quality and great service. We achieve this by the expert allocation of resources to uphold our track record of outstanding continuity of supply to both our customers and their consumers.”

He added: “Clearly, we hope for less disruptive trading conditions now and into the future, though we continue to pay close attention to inflationary pressures on input costs and the impact of higher interest rates.

“We are also very aware of how the regulatory environment can influence our operations and performance. The introduction of a new duty regime at the start of August has added both cost and complexity to our business – in both instances, counter to the claims made by the UK Government.”