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The latest accounts published by Karro Food Ltd, the north Yorkshire-based business which owns the pig factory in Cookstown, show the company has made operating losses for the last two financial years.
For the 12 months to 25 March 2023, Karro had an operating loss of £3.8m, despite an 18% increase in turnover, which was up £124m to total £796.8m.
In the previous 12-month period, Karro reported an operating loss of £8.6m, although in the 2020/2021 financial year it did make a £30.7m profit.
Net assets in the latest accounts total £132.5m down from £138.4m, while the average number of people employed totalled 2,707, which is a reduction of 692 when compared to the previous 12 months.
In the strategic report accompanying the accounts, Karro noted that recent cost inflation in raw materials, feed and transport have been impossible to avoid.
“The company has successfully been able to pass much of this impact onto its customers, albeit with delays in pass-through and will continue to pro-actively engage with customers to manage inflation recovery,” states the report.
Despite the profit challenges of recent years, Karro is continuing to invest in product innovation and process development, and “is preparing for significant future growth in the years to come”.
Sofina Foods
The Karro business has been sold on a number of occasions in the last 10 years. It is currently a subsidiary of UK111 Ltd, which is a holding company incorporated in 2021, when the Eight Fifty Food Group was bought by one of Canada’s largest food companies, Sofina Foods.
As well as Karro, the Young’s Seafood business also comes under the UK111 umbrella. The two companies were brought together under the Eight Fifty banner in 2019 by private-equity firm, CapVest, which had acquired Karro in 2017 and then Young’s two years later.
The latest accounts of UK111 show that it turned an operating loss of £31.7m in the 12-months to 26 March 2022, into an operating profit of £4.2m the following year. However, once finance charges are included, it still had pre-tax losses of £43.4m. Total turnover to 25 March 2023 stood at £1.93bn.
Europe
Both Karro and Young’s come under a Sofina Foods Europe management structure, within which there are 23 sites operational across the UK, Ireland, Germany and France. Since August 2023, the European operation has been headed by Ash Amirahmadi, who had previously been managing director of Arla UK.
The ultimate controlling party of Sofina Foods remains Canadian businessman, Michael Latifi.
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