Diversification has helped the Aim-traded Camellia (CAM), as one division has more than made up for weak performances elsewhere. The agriculture division reported trading profits of £7.3m - more than treble the level for the comparative period in 2015. That part of the business is the largest in turnover and profit terms, and lapped up strong tea production volumes in India, Kenya and Bangladesh in the first half. But volumes at the macademia nut business have been hit by the El Niño weather phenomenon, and will drop by as much as half in South Africa and 25 to 30 per cent in Malawi this year. More positively, a new macademia cracking facility has opened in Kenya on time and on budget.
That division's strong performance was countered by the banking and financial segment, which saw operating losses more than double to £2.8m. A strategic plan is in place for Duncan Lawrie, its bank, although management said interest rate cuts by the Bank of England would make this "more challenging". Meanwhile, the engineering division curbed its losses, but it is still being impacted by the oil and gas market, so redundancies and reduced working hours have been necessary to control costs.
Analysts at Panmure Gordon expect pre-tax profits of £18.5m for the year to December 2016, leading to EPS of 63.6p, compared with £26.5m and 50.7p in 2015.
| CAMELLIA (CAM) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 8,400p | MARKET VALUE: | £235m | |
| TOUCH: | 8,401-8,700p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 9,750p | LOW: 7,300p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.5% | PE RATIO: | 13 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 11,735p | NET CASH: | 53m | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 103 | -3.1 | -188 | 34 |
| 2016 | 106 | 4.9 | 29 | 35 |
| % change | +4 | - | - | +3 |
Ex-div: 7 Sep Payment: 7 Oct | ||||
