Company registration number:
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COMPANY INFORMATION
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CONTENTS
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STRATEGIC REPORT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2023
The company's principal activities continued to be those of importer and wholesale distributors of Oriental foods and drinks.
Asco Foods is in the import and distribution of Filipino, Thai, Vietnamese, Cambodian, and other South East and Far East Asian ambient and frozen foods.
The Directors of Asco Foods consider turnover and profit to be the key KPI's for the company. Turnover for the year increased to £42,161,450 (2022: £20,369,986), whilst the profit before tax was £6,867,743 (2022: £1,134,550). A review of the year has shown that turnover has increased as result of prior years’ efforts to grow the customer base, along with marketing activity promoting the company and its brands. As the sole distributor of a number of recognised brands in the UK, we intend to capitalise on the popularity of these products and have ensured that we have sufficient stock to meet the needs of our growing customer base. Overall, our profitability has increased due to cost control and greater level of trading activity. Towards the end of year under review, and in recognition of consumers behaviour, management took the opportunity to ensure the company’s strategy focused on growth, particularly for the drinks segment. The Directors of Asco Foods consider increased turnover and profitability the key KPI’s for the company. For profitability, profit before tax is reported in the income statement and is used. To sustain this growth and manage increased costs effectively, it's essential to continually assess our business strategy, monitor financial performance, and adjust our operations as necessary. This may involve optimising our cost structure, ensuring that our marketing efforts continue to yield results, and maintaining a close watch on market trends to stay competitive and ahead of the competition.
1.Growing Customer Profile: In the current period, the business secured new accounts from several national operators across retail, hospitality and wholesale. These have been key drivers to growth in turnover.
2.Marketing Initiatives: Securing new sales via marketing initiatives and exhibitions contributed to our growth. Our marketing efforts were successful in attracting new customers and increasing sales.
3.Increased Costs: It's not uncommon for businesses to incur increased costs as they scale and adapt to new market conditions. These costs are closely monitored to ensure the business continues to meet it goals in terms of growth and profitability.
4.Increased Employee Headcount: The growth the business has experienced in the current financial year has precipitated the need to increase the size of the team. Strategic appointments in finance, marketing, sales and operations have allowed the business to realise the growth plan set out.
The directors of the business and the execution of the company’s strategy is subject to a number of risks.
There are several contracts and key agency agreements for the supply of key products and brands which the company is a party, and these are managed to ensure that actions can be taken to mitigate any risks that arise.
During the year under review, the business is optimistic of the opportunities and is also mindful of the economic conditions that our customers operate under. The company is also exposed to the challenging market conditions due to foreign exchange rate volatility, commodity price increases, continued disruption in supply chains and fluctuating energy prices. Coupled with the financial turbulence arising from political events in the UK, the overall effect has been to create an uncertain macro-economic outlook. How this uncertainty will manifest itself in future consumer spending has yet to be fully understood.
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STRATEGIC REPORT (CONTINUED)
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2023
The company operates in the wholesale market where there are constant new entrants and strong competition. The directors maintain a proactive sourcing, sales and marketing process to ensure that its products and brands receive the attention that they require to support the growth of the business.
The Directors of the company continue with plans for future growth and development of the business.
This report was approved by the board and signed on its behalf.
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DIRECTORS' REPORT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2023
The directors present their report and the financial statements for the year ended 31 October 2023.
The directors are responsible for preparing the Strategic report, the Directors' report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.
Company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the directors have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice), including Financial Reporting Standard 102 ‘The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland'. Under company law the directors must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Company and of the profit or loss of the Company for that period.
In preparing these financial statements, the directors are required to:
∙select suitable accounting policies for the Company's financial statements and then apply them consistently;
∙make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
∙prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Company will continue in business.
The directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the Company's transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Company and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
The profit for the year, after taxation, amounted to £5,302,341 (2022 -£895,616).
The directors approved and paid £387,000 in dividends (2022 - £294,000). The directors are proposing to pay an amount of £57,120 post year end.
The directors who served during the year were:
The external commercial environment is expected to remain competitive in 2024. The directors remain confident that the company will be able to maintain and improve on its current level of performance in the future.
The company will face challenges arising primarily from continued disruption in the global supply chains and higher cost inflation, which are expected to continue for the foreseeable future. The directors will maintain policies to adapt to these changing conditions and to ensure the companies long term future. We continue to invest in the development of our major brands and in the development of new products for our operations. The directors regard the investment in new product development as integral to the continuing success of the business and ensuring that we are able to continue to meet the needs of our customers. The directors do not foresee any changes to the principal activity of the company.
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DIRECTORS' REPORT (CONTINUED)
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2023
Financial risk management is disclosed within principle risks are uncertainties within the Strategic Report.
The Directors are committed to recruiting and retaining engaged and motivated employees who are willing and able to contribute to the success of the business. The company continually review salary benchmarks to ensure the salaries are competitive and reflective of the local conditions.
Suppliers
The Directors with many years of experience have developed a network of suppliers who are able to supply the range and quality of product our customers require. Customers Most customer trade with us on a regular basis to make their purchases, so engaging them with our sales representatives has developed strong bonds between them and staff.
The directors do not consider there are any important events affecting the company after balance sheet date.
Under section 487(2) of the Companies Act 2006, Menzies LLP will be deemed to have been reappointed as auditors 28 days after these financial statements were sent to members or 28 days after the latest date prescribed for filing the accounts with the registrar, whichever is earlier.
This report was approved by the board and signed on its behalf.
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INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF ASCO FOODS LIMITED
We have audited the financial statements of Asco Foods Limited (the 'Company') for the year ended 31 October 2023, which comprise the Statement of comprehensive income, the Balance sheet, the Statement of cash flows, the Statement of changes in equity and the related notes, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 ‘The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditors' responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the Company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the United Kingdom, including the Financial Reporting Council's Ethical Standard and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the directors' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.
Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the Company's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.
Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the directors with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.
The other information comprises the information included in the Annual Report other than the financial statements and our Auditors' report thereon. The directors are responsible for the other information contained within the Annual Report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.
We have nothing to report in this regard.
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INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF ASCO FOODS LIMITED (CONTINUED)
In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:
∙the information given in the Strategic report and the Directors' report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
∙the Strategic report and the Directors' report have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the Company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Strategic report or the Directors' report.
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INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF ASCO FOODS LIMITED (CONTINUED)
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an Auditors' report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.
Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:
The Company is subject to laws and regulations that directly affect the financial statements including financial reporting legislation. We determined that the following laws and regulations were most significant including:
∙Companies Act 2006
∙UK Tax Legislation
∙Financial Reporting Standard 102; and
∙UK employment legislation
We assessed the extent of compliance with these laws and regulations as part of our procedures on the related financial statement items. We understood how the Company is complying with those legal and regulatory frameworks by making inquiries to management and those responsible for legal and compliance procedures. We corroborated our inquiries through our review of relevant documentation. The engagement partner assessed whether the engagement team collectively had the appropriate competence and capabilities to identify or recognise non-compliance with laws and regulations. No issues were identified in this area. We assessed the susceptibility of the financial statements to material misstatement, including how fraud might occur. Audit procedures performed by the engagement team included:
∙Identifying and assessing the design effectiveness of controls management has in place to prevent and detect fraud;
∙Understanding how those charged with governance considered and addressed the potential for override of controls or other inappropriate influence over the financial reporting process; and
∙Identifying and testing journal entries, in particular any journal entries posted with unusual account combinations; and
∙Challenging assumptions and judgements made by management in the application of accounting estimates.
As a result of the above procedures, we considered the opportunities and incentives that may exist within the organisation
for fraud and identified the greatest potential for fraud in the following areas:
∙Posting of unusual journals and complex transactions.
∙Deficiencies in record keeping and account reconciliations leading to unexplained variances.
Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.
A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council's website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our Auditors' report.
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INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF ASCO FOODS LIMITED (CONTINUED)
This report is made solely to the Company's members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Company's members those matters we are required to state to them in an Auditors' report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the Company and the Company's members, as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
for and on behalf of
Chartered Accountants
Statutory Auditor
Lynton House
7-12 Tavistock Square
London
WC1H 9LT
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STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2023
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BALANCE SHEET
AS AT 31 OCTOBER 2023
The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the board and were signed on its behalf by:
The notes on pages 14 to 25 form part of these financial statements.
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STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2023
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STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2023
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ANALYSIS OF NET DEBT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2023
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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2023
ASCO Foods Limited is a private limited company incorporated and domiciled in England & Wales. The registered address is Units 7 & 8, Amersham Commercial Park Raans Road, Amersham, Buckinghamshire, HP6 6JY.
The principal activity of the company during the year was the distribution of food and drink products with a variety of speciality products.
2.Accounting policies
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention unless otherwise specified within these accounting policies and in accordance with Financial Reporting Standard 102, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and the Republic of Ireland and the Companies Act 2006.
The preparation of financial statements in compliance with FRS 102 requires the use of certain critical accounting estimates. It also requires management to exercise judgement in applying the Company's accounting policies (see note 3).
The following principal accounting policies have been applied:
The company meets its day to day working capital requirements through its cash reserves and borrowings. The company retains net assets £ 8,554,388 (2022 - £ 3,639,047) at the balance sheet date. After making enquires, the directors have a reasonable expectation that the company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. The company therefore continues to adopt the going concern basis in preparing its financial statements.
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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2023
2.Accounting policies (continued)
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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2023
2.Accounting policies (continued)
Depreciation is charged so as to allocate the cost of assets less their residual value over their estimated useful lives, using the straight-line method.
Depreciation is provided on the following basis:
The assets' residual values, useful lives and depreciation methods are reviewed, and adjusted prospectively if appropriate, or if there is an indication of a significant change since the last reporting date.
Gains and losses on disposals are determined by comparing the proceeds with the carrying amount and are recognised in profit or loss.
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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2023
2.Accounting policies (continued)
The Company has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 “Basic Financial Instruments” of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.
Basic financial assets
Basic financial assets, which include trade and other receivables, cash and bank balances, are initially measured at their transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at their amortised cost using the effective interest method, less any provision for impairment, unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest.
Discounting is omitted where the effect of discounting is immaterial. The Company's cash and cash equivalents, trade and most other receivables due with the operating cycle fall into this category of financial instruments.
There are no significant judgements or estimates to be disclosed in the current year.
Analysis of turnover by country of destination:
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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2023
4.Turnover (continued)
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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2023
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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2023
10.Taxation (continued)
There were no factors that may affect future tax charges.
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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2023
The net book value of assets in relation to finance leases is £361,658 (2022: £135,001)
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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2023
The finance leases are secured on the assets to which they relate. Bank loans and overdrafts are secured on a fixed and floating charge over the assets of the company, where bank loans include a commercial mortgage, the mortgage is secured over the freehold property.
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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2023
The finance leases are secured on the assets to which they relate to. Bank loans and overdrafts are secured on a fixed and floating charge over the assets of the company, where bank loans include a commercial mortgage. The mortgage is secured over the freehold property.
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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2023
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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2023
18.Deferred taxation (continued)
Profit and loss account
The company operates a defined contribution pension scheme. Contributions payable to the company's pension scheme is £7,563 (2022: £10,476).
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