Interim results
Camellia Plc (AIM:CAM) announces its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2016.
Malcolm Perkins, Chairman of Camellia Plc, stated:
“Profits for the first six months of the year are substantially higher than the same period last year, once again demonstrating the strength in the diversity of the group.”
“Underlying progress was made by all of our businesses, however a number have faced truly challenging conditions either due to weather or markets and the outlook for the group continues to be mixed. In addition, unpredictable weather makes crop volumes hard to predict and has a consequential effect on prices. In the short term the depreciation in sterling against most of our operating currencies in the agricultural division is likely to have a positive impact on our full year results. In the UK, the lowering of the interest rate will inevitably have a detrimental impact on our banking operations and the continuing uncertainty following the EU referendum vote has triggered a slowdown in our engineering businesses. It is too early, and there remain too many uncertainties, to make any prediction for the full year.”
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Financial highlights |
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Year ended |
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Year ended |
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Year ended |
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Six months ended 30 June 2016 |
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Six months ended 30 June 2015 |
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31 December 2015 |
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£'m |
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£'m |
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£'m |
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Restated1 |
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Restated1 |
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Revenue |
106.1 |
102.5 |
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257.8 |
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Headline profit/(loss) before tax* |
4.9 |
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(3.1) |
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26.5 |
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Profit/(loss) for the period |
2.4 |
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(4.3) |
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7.2 |
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Earnings per share |
29.0 |
p |
(188.3) |
p |
50.7 |
p |
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Proposed interim dividend |
35 |
p |
34 |
p |
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Total dividend for the year |
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129 |
p |
1 Restated to include bearer crops as property, plant and equipment: to include growing crop of green leaf tea at fair value and to
include the green leaf element of made tea inventories at fair value in accordance with IAS 16 and IAS41 (amended). The effect of the inclusion of fair values for green leaf growing crop and for green leaf in inventory as required by IAS41 is to accelerate the recognition of an element of profit which would historically have been recognised in future periods
* Headline profit is a measure of the underlying performance of the group which is not impacted by exceptional items or items considered non-operational in nature
Highlights
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Agriculture benefitted from strong tea production volumes in the first half of the year in India, Kenya and Bangladesh and strong prices in India, offset in part by lower prices for our tea in all other jurisdictions and reduced profits from macadamia primarily due to drought |
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Duncan Lawrie made progress in implementing its growth plan however, as for all banks, the decision by the Bank of England to reduce interest rates and the uncertainties surrounding the property market, make the environment more challenging |
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Abbey Metal Finishing continues to trade ahead of expectations following its turnaround last year |
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AJT Engineering continues to be adversely impacted by conditions in the oil and gas market and the situation remains under close review |
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Cash and cash equivalents at 30 June 2016 were £53.0 million (30 June 2015 – £40.5 million) |
This announcement contains inside information for the purpose of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014.
The Interim Report will be available to download from the investor relations section on the Company's website www.camellia.plc.uk
Enquiries
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Camellia Plc |
01622 746655 |
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Tom Franks, CEO |
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Susan Walker CFO |
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Panmure Gordon |
0207 886 2500 |
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Nominated Advisor and Broker |
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Andrew Godber |
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Erik Anderson |
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Chairman's statement
Our results for the first half show a profit before tax of £4.9 million, compared with a loss (restated) of £3.1 million last year. This is the first year in which our permanent plantings have been classified under IAS 16 as property, plant and equipment rather than under IAS 41 as biological assets, which I hope will make the underlying results clearer for shareholders. We are still relatively early in the year for the agricultural business and therefore, as always, the second half will be key to the overall performance for the year.
The divisional results are discussed in more detail in the operating review, but once again demonstrate the strength in the diversity of the group. Weather patterns continue to be erratic with benign conditions in Kenya leading to record crops but no end in sight to the drought in South Africa. There is no question that the uncertainty both before and after the EU referendum vote has had an impact on the UK economy, and on our UK businesses, but with most of our earnings coming from outside the UK the depreciation of sterling following the vote will help our reported result.
Underlying progress was made by all of our businesses in the first half of the year, however a number have faced truly challenging conditions either due to weather or markets. In the 2015 Annual Report we set out the strategy for each of our divisions; strategies which are designed to provide long term value to shareholders in line with the group's ethos. However, markets and economic conditions continue to change rapidly and these strategies will remain under review by the Board and Executive Committees.
Dividend
The Board has declared an interim dividend of 35p (2015: 34p) payable on 7 October 2016 to shareholders registered at the close of business on 8 September 2016.
Outlook
The outlook for the group continues to be mixed. In addition, unpredictable weather makes crop volumes hard to predict and has a consequential effect on prices. However in the short term the depreciation in sterling against most of our operating currencies in the agricultural division is likely to have a positive impact on our full year results. In the UK, the lowering of the interest rate will inevitably have a detrimental impact on our banking operations and the continuing uncertainty following the EU referendum vote has triggered a slowdown in our engineering businesses. It is too early, and there remain too many uncertainties, to make any prediction for the full year.