Food wholesaler Musgrave has announced a 13% increase in annual turnover to €3.76 billion.
The company has also announced a 20% increase in net profits to €51.5m in the 12 months to the end of December, 2004.
Over the course of 2004, the company reduced its debt by €12m to €383m, despite spending €88m on the acquisition of C&R Foods and Variety Foods, two Irish-based frozen food suppliers. The company also spent €35m on the construction of a new distribution centre in Kildare.
'Musgrave Group has had another successful year against a backdrop of an increasingly challenging and competitive environment,' said group chairman Hugh Mackeown.
The company sells to independent retailers and food service operators in the Ireland, Britain and Spain. The company has 535 stores in the Republic of Ireland and 114 in Northern Ireland. It also owns Londis GB, which has a turnover of £1.5 billion.
The group employs 40,000 people, 24,000 of whom work in the Republic of Ireland.
