The Co Longford petfood company set up in 1969 by former taoiseach Albert Reynolds increased its pretax profit by 46 per cent to €2.86 million last year, according to newly filed accounts.
The accounts also reveal for the first time the price C&D Foods Group Ltd paid last year when it acquired Primetime Petfoods in north-east Yorkshire.
In a deal valued at €7.28 million in July 2004, C&D paid €6.11 million upfront and assumed bank balances of €877,711.
It also agreed to pay some €292,869 in deferred consideration, a sum that depends on the performance of the company in the period to March next year.
C&D Foods is now controlled by Philip Reynolds, a son of Albert Reynolds.
In a director's report with the accounts, the company said its "newly enhanced product range will facilitate further growth in the years ahead".
Based at a 20,000 sq ft plant in Edgeworthstown, the company produces 2 million cans and 1.2 million alupacks per week. Its main business is the manufacture of own-brand petfoods for supermarket chains in Ireland and Britain. It also makes Max dogfood and Maxi catfood for the Irish market.
The latest accounts for the company show that its turnover from existing operations rose to €65.05 million last year from €58.42 million in 2003. It also had sales of €5.41 million from the operations of Primetime, which was renamed C&D Foods (Driffield).
With an overall operating profit of €3.46 million up from €2.42 million, the company posted a post-tax profit of €2.55 million. Its retained profits rose to €11.26 million at the end of the year from €9.32 million in 2003.
Finance director Terry Carr said C&D had no immediate plans for further acquisitions as it was still integrating the British operation into the company. "We just need to bed that one down at this stage," he said.
No dividend was paid out during 2004. However, the total remuneration paid to its three directors - Philip Reynolds, Anne Reynolds and Hugh Carr - rose to €429,635 last year from €270,620 in 2003.
The accounts also say that C&D entered into contracts for the provision of technology and services in which the directors had a beneficial interest. Such transactions were valued last year at €1.04 million, up from €877,000 in 2003.
C&D paid out wages of €11.52 million to its 485 staff, 439 of whom were engaged in production with the remainder in selling and administration.
The company's land and buildings were valued at the end of the year at €10.37 million. Included in this figure was land valued at €534,604. The comparable figure a year earlier was €118,467.
