Food group’s fall in profits

THE Batchelors food company, which was bought by the Barry family and Bank of Scotland just over a year ago, recorded a fall in profits just in its last financial year.

According to recently filed accounts for Maiden Foods, the holding company for Batchelors foods, the company’s pre-tax profit for the year to April 30, 2004 was €4.2 million. This is down from €7.8m the previous year. The company blamed the fall on a €2.8m write-off in the value of a computer system.

Batchelors was bought by the Barry family, which own the eponymous tea business, and Bank of Scotland’s ICC venture capital arm in December 2003 for close to €93m from Northern Foods.