Turriff-based firm with mill in Inverness says costs focus helps deal with the pandemic
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Profit and turnover increased for an animal feedstuff expert which has a mill in Inverness.
Harbro Group – which is also involved in other agricultural products and services – described its latest accounting period as an unpredictable year due to the pandemic.
A strategic report accompanying the firm’s figures for the year ended June 30, 2021, stated that “the business had to be very agile and react quickly to challenges such as staffing and supply issues that had never been witnessed before”.
Turnover for the Turriff-based firm increased from £115,193,000 in 2019/20 to £125,456,000 last year. For the same period, pre-tax profit rose from £2,989,000 to £4,528,000.
The report added: “As always, the outlook for agriculture is difficult to predict. As a business, we continue to see lots of opportunities.
“Our employees are central to the success of the group. The company continues to invest in training and support to all employees to ensure they have the skills required to perform their duties and to provide an excellent service to our customers.”
The average number of employees dropped from 483 in 2019/20 to 466 last year, while staff costs increased from £16,536,000 to £16,564,000.
The business said that despite challenges within certain areas of agriculture, the company has continued to strengthen its offering to ensure that products and services support the needs of the farmer and help maintain an industry that is profitable for all.
It added a successful retail business – consisting of 21 country stores located throughout Scotland – offered a mix of farming, equine, pet, household and garden products.
Chief financial officer Ross Baxter said: “During the financial year, we implemented very tight cost controls to ensure that the business was well prepared to deal with the uncertainties of Covid.
“It was pleasing to see a robust performance across a number of our revenue streams through this period.
“All this, coupled with a focus on working capital and reducing capital expenditure, contributed to a good financial performance for us in the year.”
Harbro continues to reinvest in the business to drive efficiency, plan for growth and meet its environmental targets. It is also looking at new products and services.
