CARR'S GROUP PLC
(“Carr's” or the “Group”)
Trading Update
Carr's (CARR.L), the Agriculture and Engineering Group, announces a trading update for the 22-week period ended 30 July 2022.
The Group's overall trading performance is in line with the Board's expectations for the full financial year.
In Speciality Agriculture, whilst raw material costs continued to rise significantly, sales margins were notably improved in all markets as price rises have been passed onto customers. Volumes in the UK and Ireland remained solid, supported by strong farmgate prices. However, USA volumes continued to be impacted adversely by a reduction in beef cattle herd size due to drought causing a shortage of grazing.
UK Agricultural Supplies traded well during the period, with continued high activity levels in retail and machinery and with the market absorbing the impact of cost inflation in fuels and feeds. Since the spring, dairy feed volumes have held up but there has been a reduction in volumes of beef and sheep feeds as customers limit expenditure on inputs.
Engineering continued to benefit from high levels of work supported by a strong order book. Financial performance however remained below management expectations due in part to supply chain delays for some components of orders for robotics, and the ongoing costs incurred to achieve completion of a key project in the engineering solutions business.
Working capital requirements have continued at higher levels as reported in April due to the inflationary impact from increased raw material costs and selling prices with the effect that debt levels continue to be higher than the prior year. Undrawn facilities at 25 June 2022 were £28.4m.
A second interim dividend of 1.175 pence per share will be paid on 30 September 2022 to shareholders on the register at close of business on 26 August 2022. The ex-dividend date will be 25 August 2022.
In January, the Board announced a review of the strategic options for each of the Group's three divisions with the intention to grow shareholder value. That review is nearing completion and the Board expects to make a separate announcement shortly.