Strong growth in its key Harringtons dry dog food brand saw Inspired Pet Nutrition sales grow by almost £40m as its private equity owner continues to grow the group through acquisition.
Dry dog food sales were up 24% in the year to 25 June 2022, well ahead of a largely flat market and consolidating its position as the UK’s leading dry dog brand by value.
IPN also grew its market position in wet food and treats, as well as cat food, which saw Harrington’s wet cat food up 144% in the period.
That growth saw annualised turnover grow by £38.4m, or 24.1%, to £159.4m.
The year also marked the first milestone of the ‘build and buy’ strategy from majority owner CapVest, which invested in the brand in December 2020.
During the period it made its first acquisition of Pet Food UK and the Barking Heads, Meowing Heads and AATU brands to strategically broaden with specialist and digital premium brands.
Investment in its brands and cost inflation saw margins come under pressure, with IPN seeking to limit price rises passed onto customer and consumers to “stick to our affordable credentials”.
Therefore, operating profits fell from £10.2m to £3.4m, reflecting raw material and packaging inflation as well as increased operational and labour costs.
Richard Page, Chairman of IPN said: “As we navigate a difficult economic climate and a cost-of-living squeeze, we remain well positioned to win. Our market position as a provider of premium, but affordable pet nutrition has never been more relevant.
“Our unrivalled nutritional knowledge and great household name brands, made affordable and accessible to all, are a winning combination. This is undoubtedly a challenging trading environment, but our low-cost, high-quality production DNA means that we will be able to fight hard to limit and mitigate the impact of the inflationary environment to help our customers.”
“With CapVest on board, our investments in infrastructure, brands and people will continue and we will continue to be acquisitive to bring other brands and manufacturing capability into the IPN platform. We are very confident that IPN will continue to win in a growing and resilient market.”
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