Simonds Farsons Cisk shareholders can toast an 18 per cent increase in profit before taxation over the past year, reaching €13.5 million.

Turnover also grew by 8 per cent to reach €95 million, shareholders were todl during the group’s 71st annual general meeting.

Farsons’ Chairman Louis A. Farrugia reported on the financial highlights of the year and delved on the process followed to spin-off Trident Estates as a separate public listed company in line with the approval by shareholders at the previous AGM held in June 2017.

Group CEO Norman Aquilina emphasised that the intensity of competitive activity was increasing.  Nevertheless, the Group was seeking growth opportunities both in the local and export markets. 

“Farsons is well placed to maximise the benefits of its multi-million investment programme and is further improving its brand proposition,” said Mr Aquilina.

During the meeting, both Max Ganado and Roderick Chalmers were uncontested and re-appointed as directors.  The composition of the Board remained unchanged, in that Baroness Christiane Ramsay Pergola and Michael Farrugia, who retired in terms of the company’s articles of association, were reconfirmed in their post.

The AGM approved the Board’s recommendation of a final dividend of €2.6 million, bringing the total declared dividend for the year to €3.6 million, up from the previous year’s €3.4 million.