Carr's Milling Industries held out the prospect of a "partial" revival in UK fertilizer sales, and improved hopes for the feed market, as it unveiled a 37% slump in annual earnings.
The UK flour-to-engineering group, which in September warned it had cut its hopes for trading in both 2010 and 2011, said it expected little improvement across most of its operations next year.
"In the context of extremely difficult markets, the board expects trading in the group's principal activities to be broadly flat," Carr's chairman Lord Inglewood said.
The exceptions were fertilizer, "where a partial recovery is envisaged" in both demand and margins, while an end to the dairy downturn would improve demand for the group's Crystalyx feed blocks.
'Trends reversed'
The fertilizer business fell to an unspecified loss in the year to year to August 29, dragging the group's agriculture profits down 48% to £6.04m.
|
Ups and down - Carr's operating profits in agriculture
2006: £4.95
2007: £5.15m
2008: £11.8m
2009: £6.04m
Source: Carr's. Figures for group's financial year |
"The massive increase in commodity prices and the 40% uplift in the farm-gate milk price which had helped make the prior year a tremendously successful one for Carr's were absent," Lord Inglewood said.
"Indeed, both trends reversed."
Agriculture revenues slipped 7.6% to £255.0m.
A better performance in engineering helped limit the drop in group revenues to 6.0%, with earnings falling to £5.21m.
Shares in Carr's closed down 5p lower at 435p in London.
PRINTABLE VERSION
EMAIL TO A FRIEND
RSS FEEDS