Earnings have risen at FTSE250 meat producer Cranswick on the back of buoyant demand and substantial investment across its factories and farming operations.
The Hull-based firm reported a 6.1% rise in revenue to £1.33bn in the six months to September 28, and a 16.5% bump in adjusted group operating profit to £99.6m. Meanwhile statutory operating profit was up 3.5% to £94m.
It came on the back of £47.7m investment across the group – which employs about 15,000 people – including parts of a £62m, multi-phased programme into its Hull pork primary processing facility and £27m into the expansion of its two Hull-based breaded and ready-to-eat added value poultry factories.
Bosses said £20m has also been committed to increasing capacity within the group’s poultry operations. And during the period there had been acquisition of a supplier of outdoor bred pigs in East Anglia as well as spending on existing farming operations to drive productivity. As a result there had been an 18% year-on-year increase in pig production.
Cranswick called the results a strong start to the year, and said the favourable trading had continued into the third quarter – with orders for the important Christmas period already strong, particularly across its pigs in blankets products. CEO Adam Couch said the results featured solid volume growth and market share gain.
He added: “We continue to grow our poultry business and we have now committed to spending almost £50m across our vertically integrated poultry operations. We will invest £20m to increase volumes processed through our fresh poultry operations in East Anglia, alongside the substantial ongoing investment at our two added-value facilities in Hull.
“Investment in our agricultural operations continues at pace with a further acquisition completed during the period alongside ongoing organic expansion. We now have the largest pig farming business in the UK which is producing over 34,000 finished pigs per week with self-sufficiency maintained at well over 50%. We will continue to invest in our pig farming operations to ensure that we can supply the right quality and quantity of pigs to meet the need of our strategic retail customers.
“We remain on track to deliver further progress in the second half of the year. Our Christmas order book is strong and demand for our innovative products remains high as the UK consumer continues to appreciate the quality, value and versatility of our core pork and poultry ranges.
“Our continued positive progress is made possible by our industry-leading asset infrastructure, the unrivalled capability of our colleagues across the business, the breadth and quality of our product range and robust financial position. Focusing on these strengths will allow Cranswick to continue to prosper, both in the current financial year and over the longer term.”
Cranswick’s interim dividend will receive a 10.1% increase to 25p per share.
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