Bury St Edmunds-based Treatt reveals relocation plan as sales and profits grow

West Suffolk flavour and fragrance ingredient supplier Treatt today reported increased annual sales and profits.

And the Bury St Edmunds-based company also revealed that it could leave its Northern Way home, where it has been based for more than 40 years, to allow its UK business to continue to grow.

However, Treatt indicated that, in the event of it deciding to relocate rather than redevelop its existing site, it intended to remain in the area.

Total revenue for the year to September 30 grew by 6.9% to £79.2million, which Treatt said reflected an increase in sales of value-added products in line with group strategy.

With operating margins improving slightly, from 9.4% to 9.6%, group operating profit grew by 9.9% to £7.6m and pre-tax profit, before exceptional items, was 11% ahead at £6.9m.

However, one-off costs of £1.4m, including £1.1m due to the termination of an agency arrangement, left the bottom-line pre-tax profit up 7.2% compared with the previous year at £5.5m.

Treatt said the termination of the agency would shorten the company's route to market and remove a layer of costs to the benefit of the group in the long term.

Group chief executive Daemmon Reeve said: 'It is pleasing to see the group's strategy is delivering consistent growth for our shareholders.

'Our strategy is still in the early stages of delivering a re-shaped business; there is much to do but I am encouraged by the progress so far.'

Mr Reeve said options for relocation or the redevelopment of the group's site in Bury had been under consideration by the board and leadership team for some time.

He said: 'We need to either carry out a comprehensive re-development of our existing site or locate to new premises within the area.

'Our objective is to create a UK-based business which meets the needs of our customers and will deliver our strategic objectives in a sustainable manner for many decades to come.

'This in turn means that we need a site which meets the highest modern standards in terms of technical and R&D capabilities, operational efficiency, environmental standards, and above all to provide a great place for our people to drive the entrepreneurial success of this business.'

Mr Reeve added: 'We continue to explore a number of options from re-developing the existing site to a brand new facility on a 'greenfield' site. The potential cost of such a move is likely to be considerable, but we believe that the long-term benefits to the business will be significant.'

Treatt, a member of the EADT/EDP Top100 listing of the 100 largest companies in Suffolk and Norfolk, supplies a wide range of flavour and fragrance products to consumer goods manufacturers, including essential oils, its own range of natural distillates and authentic aroma profile chemicals.

Its dividend will rise 4% to 3.84p per share.