The acquisition of Crown Chicken has certainly feathered the nest at food producer Cranswick (CWK). The company was bought in April and helped sales rise 16 per cent to £581m in the half-year. But even without it, revenues rose an impressive 8 per cent - more than the 6.5 per cent rise in the same period last year. New contracts with the group's two largest existing customers added 350 tonnes of sausages and 300 tonnes of cooked meats per week to volumes too.
Capital expenditure hit a record level in the first half, with £24m going towards areas including increasing cooked meat capacity and a new abattoir at its Norfolk site, which should help it achieve the same US accreditation its Hull site already boasts. Management also announced a new £25m site for its continental products in Bury, Lancashire, effectively consolidating two existing sites and adding 70 per cent extra capacity.
Analysts at Peel Hunt expect adjusted pre-tax profit of £73.5m in the year to March 2017, leading to adjusted EPS of 116p, up from £65.6m and 104p in FY2016.
| CRANSWICK (CWK) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 2,375p | MARKET VALUE: | £1.19bn | |
| TOUCH: | 2,363-2,376p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 2,600p | LOW: 1,725p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.6% | PE RATIO: | 22 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 781p* | NET DEBT: | 1% | |
| Half-year to 30 Sep | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 501 | 29.2 | 47.8 | 11.6 |
| 2016 | 581 | 40.4 | 62.5 | 13.1 |
| % change | +16 | +38 | +31 | +13 |
Ex-div: 8 Dec Payment: 27 Jan Includes intangible assets of £148m, or 293p a share | ||||
