James Finlay, the historic tea company with production locations around the word, has reported a rise in profits and turnover.
The group, part of the Hong Kong and London-based Swire conglomerate, made a pre-tax profit of $45.4 million for the year ended December 31, up from $36.5m the year before, accounts newly-filed at Companies House show. Revenue increased by 7.8 per cent to $545.1m.
Finlays began life as a cotton trader and manufacturer in Glasgow in 1750, before moving into planting tea in India in the second half of the 19th century, according to its website. It has tea operations in Kenya, Sri Lana and Argentina.
Writing in the accounts, directors note continued investment was made during the year to “support the growth in value added extracted products”. These included a “significant capital investment” to expand capacity at Beverage Group in Aspen to meet growing demand for its Cold Coffee Brew. Within its tea estates business, directors said a restructuring was carried out in Argentina to reduce costs. “The resultant cost savings are expected to return Argentina to profit in 2019,” the directors said.
Non-core operations, such as a Sri Lankan insurance business, were sold.
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