Ornua Co-operative, formerly known as the Irish Dairy Board, has reported pre-tax profits of €28.1m for last year, up 23% on the year before.
Turnover at Ireland's biggest exporter of dairy products, and owner of Kerrygold, was 10% higher at €2.34 billion.
On the back of this performance, a €12m bonus for declared for members. This includes a cash bonus of €7.5m, up 15% on the previous year.
Over the year Ornua said it spent €36m on brand development and market support.
Despite the recent removal of dairy quotas, Ornua said it recognises that market conditions are challenging.
It said that all of its investments are being made with a view to making sure that high quality Irish dairy products are in the right international markets.
"In addition to an excellent financial performance, 2014 was a year in which we significantly increased the capacity of our business through brand growth, innovation and in-market investment," the company's CEO Kevin Lane said.
"We enter into this new era for Irish dairying in an excellent position, with a strongly performing organisation, geared for growth," he added.
In preparation for the increased Irish dairy volumes after the abolition of the milk quotas, Ornua saw a substantial increase in investment in merger and acquisition and capital expenditure during the year. It ended the year with €99.3m of debt.
But it also successfully secured new five year syndicated bank facilities totalling €420m. It said these new facilities provide Ornua and the Irish dairy industry with significant funds to meet domestic expansion and international growth requirements.
Looking ahead, Ornua said that it is confident that its business will continue its excellent record of growth this year, while it also recognises the challenging market conditions that exist.
