Interim Announcement
07 April 2008
"trends positive for H2 and beyond"
Carr's (CRM.L), the agriculture, food and engineering group, announces results for the 26 weeks to 1 March 2008 which are both substantially ahead of the comparable period of the 26 weeks to 3 March 2007 and appreciably ahead of budget.
Download
The full results are available to download in PDF format.
Financial Highlights
- Revenue up 45.9% to £161.87m
- Pre-tax profit up 45.0% to £5. 17m
- Earnings per share up 45.8% to 44.6p
- Interim dividend per share up 9.1% to 6.0p
Commercial Highlights
- Agriculture increased its operating profit by 56.9% to £4.02m on revenue up 45.1% at £118.82m and also reported a post-tax profit in associate and JVs up 46.5% at £0.98m. All four of Agriculture's related activities - animal feed manufacture, fertiliser blending, agricultural retailing and oil distribution - performed well.
- Food increased its operating profit by 21.0% to £1.11m on revenue up 57.9% to £39.68m. The improved result reflected two flour price increases and a cost reduction programme. The underlying trends in profitability for Food are encouraging.
- Engineering's operating profit was down 16.0% at £0.49m on revenue down 14.7% at £3.30m. The Board is confident of a satisfactory full-year outcome for Engineering.
Richard Inglewood, Chairman, stated "Our positioning in speciality products, particularly in the Agricultural market, is driving increases in both margins and sales, whilst food price inflation is enabling us to recapture much of the lost margin in our Food business. These factors combine to give us a high degree of confidence in the full year".
Richard Inglewood continued, "Improved farm incomes are benefiting our business. We are selling more products at better margins in the UK and seeing encouraging trends in our overseas Agricultural markets. The Agriculture division will continue to drive the performance of the Group. A more stable backdrop in Food will further enhance profitability. The trends are positive for the second half of this year and beyond".
Presentation
Today, there will be a presentation to brokers' analysts and private client brokers between 13:00 and 14:00, over lunch, at the offices of Investec, 2 Gresham Street, London EC2V 7QP. Those wishing to attend are asked to contact Charles Ponsonby of Bankside Consultants.
Enquiries:
| Carr's Milling Industries plc | 01228-554 600 |
| Chris Holmes (Chief Executive Officer) | |
| Ron Wood (Finance Director) | |
| Bankside Consultants Limited | |
| Charles Ponsonby | 020-7367 8851 |
| charles.ponsonb y@bankside.com |
