Pre-tax profits at Dairy Crest have plummeted by 59 percent as its milk operations continue to suffer from market difficulties, over supply and falling prices.
The company said its revenue was down 4%, and will soon be selling its dairy operations to Muller for £80m.
In 2013/14 pre-tax profits at the dairy company were £54.2m, today they were reported as £22.1m.
"We have agreed to sell our Dairies operations," said Mark Allen, Chief Executive, said.
"The conditional sale is a positive development for Dairy Crest and the wider UK dairy sector. Shareholders have approved the sale and the process to obtain regulatory approval is on track."
"Looking ahead, Dairy Crest is well positioned for sustainable, profitable growth. Over the coming year as a whole we expect results to benefit from the continued growth of Cathedral City, ongoing cost savings and the completion of our project at Davidstow where we will add value to our whey stream by producing ingredients for infant formula. This growth will be second half weighted.
"We expect that our net debt, which at the year end remains within our target range, will fall once we have completed our major investment projects. The receipt of the proceeds from the sale of our Dairies operations will accelerate this reduction."
"Our focus on product development has underpinned these results and our investment in a new innovation centre will support this. We have again met our target to deliver annual cost savings of over £20 million. These include consolidating our butter and spreads production onto one site."
