Dairy Crest secures Tesco deal
Dairy Crest yesterday reported a five per cent increase in first-half underlying pre-tax profit as sales of its key brands grew and it increased sales of fresh milk to major retailers. The company made an underlying pre-tax profit of £40.1m in the half year to the end of September, up from £38.1m the year before. Meanwhile Dairy Crest has secured a contract to supply Tesco with 50m litres of milk – about five per cent of the supermarket giant’s sales. It said higher profits in cheese – up 58 per cent to £12.5m – “more than offset” a lower performance in its dairies, which are battling against a highly competitive milk market.