Dairy Crest boosted earnings in the half year to 30 September despite lower revenues as higher profits in its cheese division more than offset reduced profits in dairies. The maker of Cathedral City cheese and Country Life butter saw pre-tax profits climb to £40.1m from £38.1m even as revenues fell to £776.9m from £803.7m. Profit in the cheese division climbed to £12.5m from £7.9m, while dairies profits fell to £10.9m from £14.4m. In the spreads division, profits edged up slightly to £27.2m from £27m. The strong performance from the cheese division was largely down to strong sales of Cathedral Cheese, one of Dairy Crest's five 'key brands.' High costs and competitive pressures weighed on the dairy division's profits. 'Our strategy has proved successful in the challenging economic environment and positions us to deliver further value going forward,' the company said.

'With operational efficiencies and selling price increases in certain categories limiting the impact of higher input costs, we are confident that we can continue to deliver profits in line with our expectations.'