Highland Spring has reported a pre-tax profit of £705,000 for the year to 31 December 2021, compared to a £1.8m loss during the previous 12 months.
The Perthshire-headquartered bottled water business noted that the turnaround was partly due to a lifting of pandemic pressures caused by driver and carbon dioxide shortages, as well as the price of raw materials.
An operating loss of £184,000 was also turned into an operating profit of £2.66m year-on-year, as sales rose from £88m in 2020 to £94.1m in 2021.
UK sales volumes rose 6.3% to 348.6 million litres, with Highland Spring now having a 10% share of the market, as it also diversified into canned flavoured water during the period.
The financial updated noted that no dividends were paid. The number of employees fell from 408 to 363.
The company is now owned by Mahdi al-Tajir, the former ambassador for the United Arab Emirates to Britain.
At the end of last month, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon opened Highland Spring's new rail freight facility in Blackford.
The new facility, adjacent to the group’s main bottling plant, has been planned in partnership with Transport Scotland, Network Rail and the Scottish Government.
It should offer long-term environmental benefits through the removal of 8,000 HGV movements from the road, saving 3,200 tonnes of C02 every year.
The project has been 10 years in development and is part of the group's strategy to reach net zero emissions by 2040.
Simon Oldham and Mark Steven, joint managing directors of Highland Spring, said: “Environmental sustainability has been at the heart of our business for over 40 years, and the rail freight facility is a critical part of our commitment to tackling climate change and being a considerate neighbour to the local community.
”We believe this project is an excellent example of the power of partnership working between the rail industry, government and business which will provide wider benefits to the Scottish environment and economy.”
The facility will deliver containers of water from Highland Spring production in Blackford to the external warehouse in Daventry daily, with 40% of the water supplied from the main bottling plant in Blackford now transported by train.
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