Scotland’s farming firms seize momentum with strong profit growth

Despite modest revenue upside, the bottom line of Agriculture 50 companies is soaring as investments pay off

Scotland’s leading agricultural firms are seeing a surge in profitability which is hidden beneath the headline revenue numbers.

Combined revenue across Scotsman Insider’s Agriculture 50 ranking rose 8.9 per cent to £3.8 billion.

EBITDA across the list jumped 49.9 per cent to £485.4m, pre-tax profit climbed 34.7 per cent to £249m, and margins widened from 5.3 per cent to 6.5 per cent.

Employment grew year-on-year too by 552 employees, taking the total number of staff working in Scotland’s top 50 agricultural firms to 11,101.

The clearest illustration of this sits at the top of the profitability table, detailed in this edition’s Data Dashboard.

Duncan Farms, the Aberdeenshire egg producer, grew turnover 39.9 per cent to £39.7m, the fastest rate on the list, while posting a 73.4 per cent PBT margin.

The family-owned business has invested more than £18m over two years — including £6.6m in new free-range farms, £7m in its packing centre, and £5m in a new rearing farm and feed storage.

"We have taken a long-term approach to funding the growth of the business, consistently reinvesting in our farms, infrastructure and people," says owner Rachael Duncan in this edition.

"We are ambitious about where Duncan Farms can go, but we want to make sure that growth is properly supported and sustainable for the long term."

The Duncan’s Farm growth story also has a parallel with that of Graham's The Family Dairy.

Managing director Robert Graham said in a previous edition of this magazine that the Bridge of Allan dairy was on track to hit a turnover of £172m as it continues to expand through product innovation and manufacturing investment.