Alliance Group bosses are welcoming a ‘solid performance’ after the meat company posted an operating surplus of $29.6m for the year to the end of September.

The profit comes out of a total turnover of $1.4b.

Both numbers are down on 2009, which delivered a $42.1m surplus from $1.5b in turnover.

Chief Executive Grant Cuff says the returns are satisfying in what’s been a challenging year.

“The company, as a co-operative, it’s not our aim in life to maximise our profit. Our aim is to pay the best we can to our shareholders.

"In this particular year we’ve tried to soften the exchange rate change between the previous year and with last year, pay as much as we can to our shareholders throughout the year and distribute what we can at year end, and we’ve tried to strike a balance with it.”

Mr Cuff says while the industry is enjoying high retail prices, on-farm profitability remains a problem.

“Around the world all of the products we deal in … are all relatively strong. That’s positive but of course the frustrating part is the New Zealand dollar keep rising and removes any benefits that occur in the market.”

Distributions to shareholders for the year will be $16.5m.