Carr’s weathers impact of Storm Desmond

CARR’S, the Cumbrian agriculture, food and engineering group, has reported a “resilient” half year, despite its UK business being hit by Storm Desmond in December.

The listed company is based in Carlisle, which bore the brunt of the ferocious floods caused by the storm at the end of last year.

In its Agriculture divions, its Lancaster feed mill was flooded, while many rural and agricultural customers were also impacted.  Trade in its Food division was also hit  as a major flour customer of its Cumbrian flour mill was flooded.

The company said insurance would cover any notable financial losses in both divisions.

It has paid tribute to the “outstanding efforts” of its staff who ensured the affected sites returned to operation faster than expected.

Revenue at the group was down 9.4% to £189m half year to February 27, 2016 (2015: £209m), while pre-tax profits were down slightly at 0.9% to £10.5m (2015: £10.6m).

The company said the depressed farm gate milk price, challenging broader agricultural market and the mild weather conditions meant that UK agricultural market conditions continue to deteriorate.

Its strategy of focusing on the UK nuclear sector in its Engineering division is proving successful and the manufacturing businesses have been awarded several new contracts from Sellafield.

The company called the performance of its agriculture businesses in the US “outstanding” , with sales volume growth of 11.7% year on year.

Tim Davies, chief executive, said: “The group is operating in challenging markets, however our international presence and diversity has provided a robust H1 performance. Trading in the second half is as anticipated and we remain on track to meet the full year expectations of the board.

“The UK agricultural market has suffered from the depressed farm gate milk and livestock prices and we expect this to continue through 2016 and 2017, which will directly adversely impact our UK farm customers.”