Rugby legend-turned cereal entrepreneur Jim Aitken lost £450,000 after investing in Corsie Group, the leisure and beauty business.

Rugby legend-turned cereal entrepreneur Jim Aitken lost £450,000 after investing in Corsie Group, the leisure and beauty business founded by former world bowls champion Richard Corsie, according to the accounts of Aitken's grain merchant business, Alexander Inglis.

Haddington-based Corsie Group collapsed into administration in May, a week after its eponymous founder and former Commonwealth gold medallist announced his resignation from the firm.

Under the heading "Post balance sheet events", the accounts show that Aitken, who captained Scotland to Grand Slam glory in 1984, made "an investment representing 12% of the equity share capital of an AIM-listed company costing £450,000" in December last year.

A regulatory statement to the London Stock Exchange from Corsie on December 20 last year confirms that "James Aitken, recently appointed as a director of the company, has an interest in 1,500,000 ordinary shares, representing approximately 12.65% of the issued share capital".

Founded in 1997, the Corsie Group employed 28 staff and sold a range of products from artificial grass, lawn bowling clothes, green tea and a breast enhancement gel. Its assets have since been acquired by an Australian bowls specialist.

Meanwhile, the accounts of Alexander Inglis note: "On May 12, 2008, the AIM-listed company went into administration and it is unlikely anything will be recovered."

The company did not comment yesterday on its association with Corsie Group.

However, Aitken's loss will likely be eased by Alexander Inglis' record profits last year on the back of the surging global price of foodstuffs.

The company, which is based in Ormiston, East Lothian, posted a pre-tax profit of just over £1m for the 2007 calendar year, compared with £539,233 the year before. According to the firm's latest set of accounts, which were obtained by The Herald from Companies House, turnover also rocketed, to £40.1m last year, compared with £25.2m in 2006.

The rise mirrors the global price of grain - the general term for wheat, maize and rice - which trebled over the course of last year.

Analysts say the rise is partly the result of demand from China and India, which are adopting an increasingly meat and dairy-based Western diet and need more cereals for animal feed, as well as the keen interest of financial institutions in the commodity futures markets.

Poor harvests, notably in Australia, which last year suffered droughts that crippled crops destined for China, also exacerbated the situation.

Aitken, who acquired Alexander Inglis out of administration in 1985, yesterday said: "We don't like to blow our own trumpet, but it was one of those years of big crops and big prices.

"Unfortunately, anything we've learned from trends in the past can go right out the window. The price increases of last year had almost nothing to do with the supply and demand of grain. Basically, it was some big financial institution who came in and decided food commodities were sexy.

"I have to say that this year grain prices have already come down about 30% from their peaks last year, and so far we haven't seen much of the institutions."

But he added: "No one benefits from a flat market."

Asked if he expected this year's profits to be as healthy as the previous year, Aitken, who runs the company with his two sons - both of whom, he quipped, could "outvote him" - said: "We've started well, but we still have two big harvest months to come, so time will tell."

The directors also note in the accounts that the "company remains in a good position to take advantage of any opportunities which may arise in the future".

Meanwhile, the accounts also revealed that the pay package of the highest-paid director, assumed to be Aitken, almost tripled to £472,207.