Profits soar at farming and engineering business
Profits are up by more than a fifth at agriculture and engineering group Carr’s.
The firm, which is based in Carlisle, has benefitted from an upturn in the sector over the last six months.
The company issued its interim results which recorded an increase in operating profit from £7.6m to £9.2m. Revenues were up 13% from £176.8m to just over £200m.
Net debt currently stands at £16.1m compared £14.1m last year.
Tim Davies, Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are very pleased with the performance of the group during the first half of the year, which slightly exceeded the Board’s expectations for the period.
“This strong performance demonstrates the excellent recovery made in our engineering division and builds upon the strategic progress made during the last year.
“In UK Agriculture, we now have greater visibility on the impact Brexit may have in relation to direct payments to farmers in the near term, although uncertainty remains on the issue of trade agreements both within the EU and the rest of the world.
“The clarity relating to direct support, together with improving farm incomes, means we are starting to see renewed confidence in the outlook for the industry. Our Engineering business is recovering well and we have strengthened management to drive further growth.”
He added: “Trading in the second half has started well and the Board now anticipates that trading for the full year will be slightly ahead of its previous expectations.
“We are confident that our breadth of product offering, investments in acquisitions and research, and our international footprint leaves us well positioned for further growth across both our divisions in the medium term.”
