At £37.9m, the pre-tax number is just a third of that for the previous year.

Turnover rose almost £59m to £512.4m for the manufacturer of branded and premium private-label dairy products and dairy alternatives.

The directors’ report said that the key performance indicator of the business – earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) – was £64.2m compared with £67.4m in 2021.

Costs rose during the year and there was some pandemic-related disruption to the business. Milk intake also rose, but there was a weaker market in dairy ingredients and infant formula.

The company’s main brands include Cathedral City cheddar, where expansion continued in export markets including the US and Canada.

During the year, the business also bought Wensleydale Dairy Products for £22.2m and sold its Frylight site at Erith, Kent, late in November 2021 for £2.3m.

September 2021 saw Dairy Crest plead guilty to offences breaching its environmental permit at Davidstow, leading to a fine of £1.52m in June this year.

The company is owned by Saputo Dairy UK, the UK arm of Canadian dairy giant Saputo, which also bought Bute Island Foods in May 2021 for £91.2m.