Walkers: Sales jump at Doritos, Monster Munch and Quavers owner
Sales at the owner of the UK’s favourite crisps brands, Walkers, jumped by more than £60m during its latest financial year, it has been revealed.
The Pepsi-owned business, which splits its UK accounts across three firms, has only just revealed its results for 2023, long after the 30 September deadline set by Companies House.
Manufacturing arm Walkers Snack Foods has posted a turnover of £359m for 2023, up from the £309.7m it achieved in the prior 12 months.
The division said this was because of the reimbursement of increased costs related to manufacturing activities.
Its pre-tax profit also grew from £28.3m to £31.6m over the same period.
Sales and marketing arm Walkers Snacks reported a turnover of £228.2m for the year, up from £209.8m, but its pre-tax profit was cut from £90.8m to £56.8m.
The division said its turnover increased because of higher commission earned “driven by favourable performance on snacks and grains” and higher reimbursement costs compared to 2022.
It added that its pre-tax profit decreased primarily due to a £40m dividend it received in 2022 which was not repeated in 2023.
The decline was partially offset by an increase in interest income in 2023 by £10m.
Turnover fell from £146.4m to £141.5m at Walkers Snacks (Distribution) while it went from making a £6m pre-tax profit to a loss of £1.6m.
The arm said its turnover declined “primarily due to [a] decrease in reimbursable costing [in] 2023 compared to 2022 related to warehousing services and distribution.
Walkers was founded in Leicester in 1948 and was sold in 1970 to US-based Standard Brands.
Almost 20 years later, the company was snapped up by Pepsico.
As well as Walkers, the firm’s brands include Doritos, Frazzles, Monster Munch, Quavers and Wotsits.
Walkers lose Sensations Poppadoms tax battle
In January 2024, City PM reported that Walkers’ Sensations Poppadoms had been ruled by a Tax Tribunal as ‘similar to potato crisps’ and therefore not eligible for the zero-rated VAT.
Walkers Snack Foods appealed a decision by the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) that certain products sold by the Walkers are taxable at the standard rate.
Walkers contended that the products should be zero-rated for VAT purposes on the basis that they fall within “item one of group one of part II to schedule eight VAT, being ‘food of a kind used for human consumption’”.
It stated that they do not fall within any of the excepted items in that group, while also contending that the products should be zero-rated under the principle of fiscal neutrality.
HMRC argued that the product fall within excepted item 5 of group I, because they are “products [similar to potato crisps, potato sticks, potato puffs] made from the potato, or from potato flour, or from potato starch” and are “packaged for human consumption without further preparation”.
The accounts for Walkers come after City PM reported in October that profit surged to almost £100m at KP Snacks, the maker of the likes of Mccoy’s, Hula Hoops and Terrell’s, during its latest financial year.
The Slough-headquartered business, whose brands also include KP Nuts, Butterkist, Pom-Bear and Popchips, reported a pre-tax profit of £93.7m for 2023, up from the £64.3m it achieved in 2022.
Accounts with Companies House also showed the firm’s turnover jumped from £546m to £626.7m over the same period.
As a result of its improved financial position, the company increased its dividend from £36m to £50m.