Catering group Campbell Bewley today reported a pre-tax profit of €5.6 million for last year, an increase of 14 per cent on the previous year.
Despite a slight fall in turnover, the company's chief executive Mr John Cahill said the performance was"very strong given the challenging worldwide economic environment".
The group said its Dublin based coffee roasting, tea blending and distributionoperations put in a strong year, in spite of "lower levels of economicactivity and a decline in tourism."
"The substantial investments made in new production technologies and facilities are yielding significant results, indicated in the award of a major supply contract for Tesco's roast andground coffee business in Ireland and the UK," it said.
Campbell Bewley also announced its US subsidiary, Java City, has signed a five-year contract withAtlanta-based Delta Air Lines to supply speciality coffee to its passengers.
The group also announced a share buy-back scheme from staff. "The buy-back will benefit approximately 500 current and former employees to a maximum of 2,000 shares per owner at a price of €4.90," it said.