A pork producer in an animal welfare scandal exposed by The Mail on Sunday faces difficult questions from investors when it reveals financial results this week.
Cranswick, which supplies major UK supermarkets, was thrown into crisis last Sunday after we revealed that workers at its Northmoor farm in Lincolnshire had been killing piglets by smashing them against floors and walls.
Footage showed pigs being beaten and kicked, plus botched killings.
The scandal is likely to dominate exchanges between Cranswick bosses and shareholders on Tuesday when it reports results for the year to March.
The firm’s largest backers include investment giants such as JP Morgan and Vanguard as well as UK mutual fund Royal London.
Cranswick, which is traded on the London stock market, has seen about £71 million wiped off its value after the scandal erupted.
Financial analysts are predicting it will report profits of £192 million for the year to March, up from £176 million the previous year.
But Cranswick is facing legal action after Animal Justice Project, which is behind the investigation into Northmoor, filed a formal complaint with Trading Standards.
Secret recordings obtained exclusively by The Mail on Sunday revealed a horrific catalogue of animal abuse
In one sickening scene, a farm worker grabs a squealing piglet by its hind legs, swings the terrified animal high above his head and smashes it down brutally on to the hard floor
Campaigners filmed the botched killing of a sow, which left the animal screaming and writhing in agony
On its website, Cranswick Farming portrays an idyllic public image, but the reality – at one of its farms at least – is horrifically different
Emma Milligan of Lincolnshire Trading Standards said: ‘We work with partners, including police, to take action to protect livestock.’
The company has suspended staff at Northmoor farm and has ordered an urgent investigation.
The farm is a small part of Cranswick’s operation but the revelations could cause tensions with some of its major customers.
Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Morrisons suspended deliveries from Northmoor farm following The Mail on Sunday’s report.
In March, Cranswick signed a ten-year contract with Sainsbury’s for all of the supermarket’s pork, sausages, bacon and gammon to be purchased through the company.
