Volac reports profit loss in 2021 due to acquisitions and product expansions but sales increase

27 Sep 2022 --- UK-based dairy nutrition company Volac has announced its financial results for 2021, noting that although total sales were up £42.7 million (US$46.1 million) from the previous year, total pre-tax profit was down £700,000 (US$785,473) due to acquisitions, production expansion and increased administrative costs.

Volac states that much of the increased profit was offset by the purchase of a Felinfach powder drier in Wales and the associated staff and facilities, as well as the acquisition of Micron Biosystems – the fourth product family to be added to the company’s animal nutrition segment. However, it states that this shows its confidence in the future of the dairy industry.

James Neville, Volac’s CEO, comments: “2021 represented another strong year of growth for Volac with sales in both our animal nutrition (+27%) and Performance & Dairy Ingredients (+3%) businesses. We successfully navigated the Brexit transition and have continued to export our products across the EU, despite significantly higher costs and increased administration expenditure.”

Exponential growth
The company highlights that its animal nutrition and performance and dairy ingredients sales increased to £278.9 million (US$301 million), up 18% over last year. They also note the number of employees increased from 368 to 418 persons, an almost 12% increase since 2020.

Volac reported an 18% sales increase over the previous year.These trends are in line with Innova Market Insights’ reporting on dairy trends for that year and with the company’s Volactive UltraWhey Velicious, sports nutrition offering winning the Best Sports Nutrition Ingredient award from the European Specialist Sports Nutrition Alliance in December of 2021.

Sales were possibly further driven by the uptick in consumer desire for immunity ingredients as reported by Innova Market Insights.

The increase in employees is mainly due to the expansion of the workforce for the powder drier as well as the Micron Bio-system acquisition in August of 2021.

“In August 2021 we successfully completed the acquisition of Micron Bio-systems. This created a fourth product family for our Animal Nutrition business: feed additives,” underscores Neville. “Having completed the integration we are now focused on driving growth.”

Increased investments
Volac also reported that cash flow from all operating activities was down to £8 million (US$8.6 million) from £35 million (US$37.8 million) in 2020. The company states that this is due to the disposal of its shares in DV Nutrition during the previous year. 

Furthermore, Volac reports that it invested £3.5 million (US$3.8 million) in fixed assets toward the purchase of the new Felinfach powder drier and the company expects to invest even more in 2022. 

“We are confident of a strong 2022 on the back of our recent capital investments in our factory at Felinfach, Wales, as well as the Micron Bio-systems acquisition,” Neville concludes.

Edited by William Bradford Nichols