The "satisfying" result, which was after performance-premium payments and non-recurring items and before tax, came at the end of a challenging year and a three-year restructuring programme, chairman Eoin Garden said.
The company also declared a dividend of 10c per ordinary share in addition to the performance-premium payments, bringing total distributions to suppliers/shareholders of $14.5 million.
Chief executive Keith Cooper said the company now had its base operating model, balance sheet and marketing right and it believed it was well positioned to deliver superior returns to farmers in the future.
That said, currency would continue to play a part in farmers' returns and, equally, "markets will be markets".
"Markets do go up and down," he said.
The 2010-11 financial year was full of "extraordinary" events, including record volatility in the New Zealand dollar, a spring storm that left a record low lamb crop, the Canterbury earthquakes and a fire at the company's Te Aroha plant.
On the upside, in-market prices for red meat and by-products lifted and, because of many factors aligning, the company's farmer partners received record returns, Mr Cooper said.
The company's equity ratio was now 59%, positively influenced by a reduction in total debt over the past three years.
That included the repayment of $75 million of bonds during the first quarter and, in October, the repayment of the redeemable preference shares.
Net bank debt was $119.5 million against stock and debtors of $267 million, while the operating cash-flow deficit was $7.6 million.
The year-end result was achieved by the focus on marketing, operational efficiencies and managing foreign exchange prudently, Mr Cooper said.
It included $13 million expenditure on research and development, innovation and marketing, which was clearly an investment in the future, he said.
Further to the 10c-per-share dividend, Silver Fern Farms' board also announced an exchange offer for transacting shareholders who held rebate or supplier investment shares.
That offer gave transacting shareholders the opportunity to exchange their existing shares (on a one-for-one basis) for ordinary shares and receive the 10c-per-share dividend.
The company was mindful of the need for industry aggregation and its recent acquisition of two processing plants - the Wallace Waitoa plant and Frasertown Meats in northern Hawkes Bay - was evidence of its commitment to consolidation and part of its wider strategic plan for the future, Mr Garden said.
"We are now seeing the benefits of the creation of a modern consumer-facing, farmer partner-focused co-operative, with a clear progressive strategy that focuses on operating within today's challenges but also invests in the future."
The company was also demonstrating its commitment to not only the red meat sector but also the New Zealand economy by the establishment of the joint venture freight-management company Kotahi, launched with Fonterra.
The future of the red meat sector would depend upon continued execution of such market-focused strategies, he said.
The reappointments of Herstall Ulrich and Rob Hewitt to the company's board were viewed as an endorsement of the company's direction and performance. No other nominations were received for the two vacancies created by director election rotationMr Cooper said there were still an "awful lot of challenges out there". Grass growth had forced the price of store stock up, the kill was not coming forward and he was worried many farmers were paying "far too much".
- The company's annual meeting will be held in Timaru on December 5.
