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Leading UK beef and lamb processor, Dunbia, made an operating profit of £10.69m in 2021, up from £7.02m in the previous year.
The company, which employs 4,352 people across 12 processing sites in the UK, including an abattoir and retail packing facility in Dungannon, recorded a turnover of £1.27bn in 2021, leaving operating profit margin at a thin 0.84%.
That compares to the 3.6% margin recently reported by Foyle Food Group and the 2 to 4% margins typical of other agri-food companies, including dairy processors. However, it has been a period of significant transition for Dunbia UK, which was originally established by Jim and Jack Dobson. In 2017, Jack Dobson left the business, with his brother Jim entering into a joint venture with Dawn Meats in the UK.
That new model saw all the Dawn sites in the UK coming under the Dunbia umbrella, but ultimately with Dawn Meats as the majority shareholder.
In 2020, Jim, along with his son Matthew, exited the Dunbia UK business, leaving it fully under the control of the Browne and Queally families, the owners of Dawn Meats.
As a result, the 2021 accounts for Dunbia UK is the first full year of trading under the new consolidated ownership, and is the main reason for turnover increasing from £888m to £1.227bn.
In 2020, three subsidiary companies originally owned by the Dobson brothers; Dunbia Preston, Dunbia Wales and Dunbia NI, were “acquired” by Dunbia UK, at a total book value of £57.05m, of which the majority (£37.2m) was for Dunbia in NI.
Debt
While the 2020 accounts showed short term bank borrowings of over £105m, this has reduced significantly to £48.1m in 2021. Over the same period, the “amount due to group companies – non trade” has increased from £19.8m to £83.9m.
Despite that significant debt in the Dunbia UK business, there are also significant assets, with shareholder funds in 2021 at £120.5m up from £110.8m the previous year.
While the accounts give an insight into how Dunbia is performing in the UK, it is only one part of the wider Queally and Browne business empire.
The Dunbia accounts list Dunbia Holdings Limited incorporated in the Isle of Man (IOM) as its immediate parent company, with QDB Holdings (IOM) Unlimited as the ultimate parent undertaking. Financial statements for this company are not publicly available.
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