Arla Foods, which employs around 1,000 staff in Leeds and produces Anchor butter, Lurpak and Cravendale milk, has returned to profit for the first time since 2012.

Accounts just published at Companies House for the year to December 31, 2016, reveal that the farmer-owned dairy company, which has its UK headquarters at Leeds Valley Park, climbed back from a loss of £64.7m in 2015 to record a profit of £23.9m last year.

Turnover dipped from 2015’s £2.57bn to £2.35bn in 2016, with 98% of revenues generated in the UK.

The last time the company was back in the black was in 2012, when it achieved a pre-tax profit of £8.36m, which itself was down from £35.8m in the prior year.

In its most recent results for 2016, Arla’s cost of sales dropped by £337m, more dramatically than its turnover, which fell by £228m revealing £110m in efficiency savings.

The company said that 2016 saw “unprecedented” market volatility in raw milk production, as well as farm gate prices. However, it said its strong brands and broad portfolio, both in the UK and globally, prevented the milk price from hitting the “extremely low” levels seen elsewhere in the industry.

Arla said the overall focus for 2016 was to improve performance through strong cost control and improved profitability of growing milk volumes.

Difficult trading conditions and global low commodity prices led to an overall decline in revenue but Arla said “despite challenging market conditions, volume driven growth in branded positions was 3.9% demonstrating we have improved the quality of our revenue”.

Arla was encouraged by the increased awareness of its brand in 2016 through the launch of products such as Arla Farmers Milk and new products within its Arla Lactofree range, exemplifying its focus on launching healthy products and inspiring good food habits.