April 18, 2013
Adverse weather boosts Carr''s Milling sales
Carr''s Milling, a Carlisle-based group, has revealed its record half-year results, which has benefited from the adverse weather that has wreaked havoc on farms across the region.
Profit before tax was up by more than a third to ？￡10.1 million (US$15.41 million) while sales jumped 18.1% to ？￡231.6 million (US$353 million).
The poor weather that has blighted farmers was a boon for Carr''s, which enjoyed strong sales of animal feed in the UK and America. The firm''s strong performance was largely down to growing demand for animal feed, including the sale of its well-known Crystalix feed blocks with the adverse weather benefiting profit by ？￡1.1 million (US$1.7 million).
High demand for specialist remote-handling equipment and fabrications from the firm''s nuclear and petrochemical industries worldwide also helped lift profits and revenue.
Carr''s new ？￡17 million (US$26 million) flour mill at Kirkcaldy is on track for completion in September with the closure of a competitor mill in Glasgow reducing industry over-capacity in Scotland.
The company''s chairman Chris Holmes is confident about prospects for the remainder of the year. He said, "The performance of the group in the first half has been strong, significantly helped by the trading conditions created by global weather patterns. We anticipate that the benefits to the group of the adverse weather will continue in the third quarter. The board views the remainder of the year favourably, with the expectation that the result for the financial year ending August 31, 2013 will be ahead of our previous expectations."
Carr''s revenue from agriculture in particular is up 17.8% and profit before tax up 21.4%, with animal feed benefiting from adverse weather conditions, feed blocks experiencing strong demand in the UK and USA, and retail and fuel distribution continuing to expand in Scotland and Northern England.
The agricultural company is growing internationally and continuing its investment in technology and research and development. Food revenue was up 8% and profit before tax up 10.9% with cost-effective access to imported wheat off-setting volatility on flour milling.
Holmes added, "We are currently exporting our feed blocks from Cumbria into New Zealand and we are looking to export to South America. Where we''ve got our existing US plant, Canada is only 15 miles away and we are looking to take our AminoMax, bypass protein product, across the border. There is tremendous demand for this product among dairy farmers in the US. For us, it''s about maximising our dairy farmers'' profitability and we are investing ？￡2 million (US$3 million) in a new plant in Lancaster to bring the latest AminoMax product to the UK market."
The group''s net debt increased to ？￡19 million (US$29 million), largely to pay for investment including a new agricultural retailing/farm machinery dealership in Kendal and refurbishment of the site in Carlisle.