Kerrygold brand owner Ornua has reported lower turnover and operating profits for 2023 due to the challenging market conditions that the Irish dairy industry faced last year.
Ornua, the largest exporter of Irish dairy products, said its turnover for the 12 months to the end of December dipped by 0.7% to €3.4 billion, while its operating profits fell by 8.2% to €127.2m from €116.8m in 2022.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation last year also fell by more than €10m to €116.8m.
During the year, Ornua said that €1.6 billion of Irish dairy products were bought, which it said provided continued security of strong returns for member co-operatives and 14,000 Irish dairy farming families.
It also opened the new €40m development at Kerrygold Park, which increased production capacity to about one million retail packs a day.
Ornua said it launched 26 new Kerrygold products in key markets last year and it continued to be the second biggest butter brand in the US.
The dairy group said that global milk supply fluctuated in the year, rising by just 0.1% overall in 2023, while global dairy demand rose by about 0.5%, following a decline of 0.5% in 2022.
Looking to the rest of the year ahead, it said that global milk supply looks likely to remain flat which should support the market.
"While it is expected that the dairy market will stabilise in the coming months, buyers will need more certainty regarding demand if commodity pricing is to firm in the second half of the year," it added.
Donal Buggy, Ornua's interim CEO, said that Ornua responded dynamically to significant instability in the global trading environment by remaining focused on its strategy and on its commitment to deliver for its customers, its member co-operatives and Irish farming families.
"Looking ahead, while there is continued uncertainty around the impact of macroeconomic factors on already challenging global market conditions, we remain optimistic about the future and focused on achieving sustainable growth in key markets," he added.
In February 2024, the Board of Ornua Co-operative appointed Conor Galvin as chief executive of Ornua. He will take up his new role in May.
Before joining Dairygold, Mr Galvin was Finance Director with DCC's Food & Beverage division, and he was also Country Finance Manager with Procter & Gamble in Ireland.
