Dairy Crest hit by Quadra collapse

Dairy Crest, the food company behind the Utterly Butterly and Cathedral Cheddar brands, says it will have to increase its bad debt provision as a result of one of its customers, Quadra, going into administration.

The company will increase its bad debt provision by up to £4m, as that is the total amount owed by Quadra although Dairy Crest says it is looking at several options to reduce the amount involved.

Dairy Crest also says the charge will have no impact on dividend considerations or any "material" effect on year end borrowings.

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Over the past 12 months Dairy Crest has lost 13.5% of its value. The company grew out of the old Milk Marketing Board which had to find a use for the 70-80 million gallons of milk that went unsold in the early sixties.

It now has annual sales of £1.6bn.

BS