INVESTORS with stakes in dairy co-operative Milk Marque are set to receive their slice of a multi-million pound pay-out.

The board of the Lower Wick-based organisation has pledged to repay 40 per cent of the capital ploughed into the society's certificates of entitlement, loan stock and preference shares from October.

The repayment, likely to be around £15m, will be made equally to all holders of the various classes of capital in the co-operative.

Any remaining surplus will be returned to members based on their trade within the society in the 1999-2000 financial year.

"The board is confident of its ultimate ability to repay all of the capital invested in Milk Marque and intends to act with all the necessary speed to achieve this, while realising the market value for Milk Marque's assets," said chairman Roger Evans.

"We're sufficiently confident to be able to make this first repayment now, before the value of any of the assets in Milk Marque has been realised."

The company's annual report revealed a trading surplus in excess of £20m for the year. This has been declared a deferred bonus.

But the board has held back on making cash payments against the surplus because of continuing uncertainties in the milk market.

"The board will keep the position in respect of this surplus under regular monthly review, and will release payments to members as soon as some of the uncertainties are removed," Mr Evans added.

He said Milk Marque would continue to provide essential services to Axis, Milk Link and Zenith - co-operatives formed after the Monopolies and Mergers Commission probe into its pricing structure - including milk testing, until next April.

It is also contracted to provide a number of central services to the trio until the end of March 2001, and will continue to operate its quota agency, product development centre and milk distribution services.

A number of properties, rented by the co-operatives from Milk Marque, will be put on the market during the 2001-2 financial year.

Other Milk Marque businesses, including the Aeron Valley and North Bradon cheese companies are being sold off.