Poor weather in the US and UK helped boost profits at milling and agricultural business Carr’s by 21.5% year-on-year.
Performance of its agriculture and food divisions – particularly sales of animal feed – had been boosted by a “perfect storm” of weather conditions, including widespread droughts in the US, and a wet summer in 2012 and long winter in the UK.
Total sales rose 15.8% year-on-year to £468.1m [52 w/e 31 August 2013], while profits before tax rose to £15.9m.
Carr’s – which supplies flour to businesses including Warburtons and UBUK – said its milling operation had performed well despite 2012 bringing the worst UK wheat crop in decades.
CEO Tim Davies added that the coastal position of its mills in Silloth, Cumbria and Kirkcaldy, Scotland – where it had worked with the Forth Ports Authority to open the harbour – had allowed it to source wheat from international markets with greater flexibility and lower logistics costs. This had helped boost revenue from its food division by 17% to £94.2m, with profit before tax up 26.5% to £0.6m.
Carr’s new £17m mill at Kirkcaldy began operations in September this year. The company said it had invested in the site following “substantial under investment in flour milling” assets across the industry and in reaction to increasing demands from customers for higher food-safety standards.
“This investment will allow us not only to meet our customers’ needs and expectations but also to return the food division to improved levels of financial performance,” said Davies. “We expect to see the benefits start to be realised through 2014 with an increase in underlying performance expected to be fully realised in the short to medium term, driven from a mix of cost savings and planned operational efficiencies.”
Davies was appointed CEO in March this year, when Carr’s chairman Chris Holmes stepped down from the chief executive position. Group finance director Neil Austin joined the business at the same time.
Carr’s also operates an engineering division that includes the German Wälischmiller remote handling and robotics business, and Swindon-based Carr’s MSM, which builds and services manipulators used mainly in the nuclear industry and research centres.
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