Ornua, Ireland’s largest dairy exporter and owner of the Kerrygold brand, delivered a strong performance in 2015. Turnover increased 9% to €2.5bn, while earnings (EBITDA) before exceptionals, increased 18% to €58.8m.

Kerrygold butter continued to perform strongly with volumes growing 15% to a record c. 56,000 tonnes in Germany, the largest market for the iconic brand.

Reflecting the group’s overall strong performance, a €14m annual bonus to members was declared, which was up 17% on 2014.

Alongside this, a special €15m bonus was paid in 2015 to all member co-ops, arising from the sale of its majority stake in the DPI distribution business in the US.

Kevin Lane, CEO commenting on results said: “We are very pleased to report a solid 2015 performance and are confident that, whilst recognising the challenging market conditions that exist, our business will continue to deliver strong returns and growth.”

Ornua closed the year with net debt of €17m and a very strong balance sheet with net assets of €526m, up 21% on prior year.

It purchased a record 286,000T from members, 16% more than 2014. This reflected the importance of Ornua to the Irish industry, opening new routes to market for Irish dairy products and the delivery of strong product price returns.

Work is progressing at Kerrygold Park, a new state-of-the-art butter production and packaging facility in Mitchelstown which is expected to open later this year.

Earlier this month, Ornua announced it will suspend the milk levy from 1st May in a bid to go some way towards supporting dairy farmers during difficult time of challenged and suppressed global dairy markets.

More analysis to follow on www.farmersjournal.ie and in the paper this week.