The Carlisle-headquartered speciality agriculture and engineering group, Carr’s, has said its full-year profit for 2023 will be “only marginally below that of full-year 2002” in its latest trading update.
The group, which operates across three locations in the UK, six in the US and one in Germany, said today (Wednesday, October 11) that it had performed “in line” with its board’s revised expectations.
“Despite a soft first half, a strong second half for the engineering division will result in profit for the full year being only marginally below that of full year (FY) 22.
“The order book has reached a record level, finishing the year at £63 million which gives confidence in growth prospects in FY24 and looking further ahead into FY25.”
However, the group, which manufactures and supplies a number of nutritional supplements under certain brands, including molasses-based feed licks and gradual-release boluses, has warned that conditions in speciality agriculture “continue to be challenging”.
Earlier this year the group had warned that in the UK, the costs of the principal ingredient of feed blocks, sugar cane molasses, had increased by 70% over the past three years.
It said that these increases combined with increases in other ingredients along with energy and labour, had led to a 45% increase in selling prices over the past two years.
According to Carr’s latest trading update, adjusted operating profit in its agriculture division will be significantly below the prior year.
“Feed block volumes in both the UK and the US were lower than last year, with drought conditions in parts of the US and high farm input costs in the UK suppressing demand.
“The challenging conditions in both markets are expected to continue in the year ahead but the board anticipates a return to growth in the medium and long-term,” it stated.
According to the group, which was founded in 1831, central costs will be marginally lower than forecast at the previous update, with further savings anticipated in FY24.
Carr’s Group closed the year with net cash, excluding leases, of £4.2 million
“Since the end of the financial year, this has been supplemented by significant customer receipts, with a further £4 million related to the disposal of agricultural supplies division expected in October 2023,” the trading update outlined.
Carr’s Group is expected to announce its audited results for the year ended September 2, 2023 in mid-December.