At the time of full-year results last November, Carr’s Group (CARR) profits were wiped out thanks to lower US cattle prices and a delayed contract in its engineering business. The company has since made a marked recovery, with operating profits up by nearly a third to £8.9m. Chief executive Tim Davies said this record performance “slightly exceeded” expectations, and demonstrated that previous problems were simply a bump in the road, as opposed to a systemic issue.
An improvement in farmers’ incomes meant that they had more money to spend on Carr’s products, supporting the 6.3 per cent increase in feed volumes. Mr Davies was also positive on the impact leaving the EU could have after Michael Gove revealed payments to farmers would continue for another five years post-Brexit. Adjusted cash profits in the engineering business nearly quadrupled to £1.4m after the previously delayed contract materialised, and nuclear power company NuVision was acquired.
Analysts at Investec expect pre-tax profits of £15.6m in the year to August 2018 giving EPS of 12.4p, compared with £11.4m and 8.8p in FY2017.
| CARR'S GROUP (CARR) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 154p | MARKET VALUE: | £141m | |
| TOUCH: | 150-154p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 154p | LOW: 118p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.7% | PE RATIO: | 15 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 105p* | NET DEBT: | 14% | |
| Half-year to 3 Mar | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2017 | 177 | 8.3 | 6.4 | 0.95 |
| 2018 | 200 | 10.6 | 9.0 | 1.08 |
| % change | +13 | +28 | +41 | +13 |
| Ex-div: | 26 Apr | |||
| Payment: | 21 May | |||
| *Includes intangible assets of £26.3m, or 29p a share | ||||
