Latest Results

Interim Results
For the 26 weeks ended 27 February 2021

“An improved H1 performance in a challenging environment”

Carr's (CARR.L), the Agriculture and Engineering Group, announces its Interim Results for the 26 weeks ended 27 February 2021.

Outlook

A continued positive performance is forecast across the Agricultural divisions together with an improved second half in the Engineering division as the impact of COVID-19 begins to recede and its order intake continues to increase.  A programme of simplification and standardisation is forecast to improve performance over time. Trading since 27 February 2021 has been positive and the Board’s expectations for the current financial year remain unchanged.

Hugh Pelham, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

“Despite a challenging operational environment with significant headwinds experienced in Engineering we have delivered an improved performance compared to the same period last year.  Our Speciality Agriculture and Agricultural Supplies divisions have performed particularly strongly. The outlook for Engineering is for an improved performance in the second half of the financial year.

“I have been fortunate to inherit some sound foundations from my predecessor, Tim Davies.  Carr’s Group owns a portfolio of good businesses with strong market positions.

“Our people have responded brilliantly to the challenge of working in a COVID-19 environment. I would like to thank them for their commitment and dedication in keeping all our stores, fuel depots and manufacturing operations running in such difficult times.

“An initial operating review has been conducted and the Group is now structured in three divisions: Speciality Agriculture, Agricultural Supplies and Engineering to create greater operational efficiencies, market focus and provide greater transparency for investors. The results of our Speciality Agriculture division demonstrate the quality of our products in the feed block, minerals and animal health markets.

“Actions have been taken to strengthen reporting and governance systems within the business as part of a process to identify opportunities for improvement.

“Considerable opportunity exists to optimise the current portfolio through a process of standardisation, simplification and seeking synergies between similar businesses. Growth can be achieved through a mixture of geographic expansion, selling all our service lines to our customer base, and acquisition and potential industry consolidation.

¹  Adjusted results are consistent with how business performance is measured internally and are presented to aid comparability of performance.  Adjusting items are disclosed in note 3

²  Excluding leases. Further details of net debt can be found in note 8

INTERIM MANAGEMENT REPORT

HSE AND COVID-19

The health, safety and wellbeing of our employees and customers is of paramount importance.  We continue to follow Government guidelines and maintain rigorous social distancing controls, hygiene measures and shift-working practices across all locations.                                                          

The reportable accident frequency rate compared to last year has declined and various improvements in health, safety, and environmental management systems across the Group have been implemented.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Group remains under close review by the Board. The Group has successfully implemented a range of measures and planned contingencies across all our businesses which are designed to minimise the impact of the pandemic, and as a result all our manufacturing facilities have remained fully operational. However, we have been impacted by delays in the progress of engineering projects and restrictions on visiting customer sites. 

Given the positive trading performance during the period the Group has not utilised the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and currently has no plans to do so.

RESULTS

In challenging market conditions, Carr’s has delivered an improved performance in the period.

During the 26 weeks ended 27 February 2021 revenues increased to £201.4m (H1 2020: £200.0m).

Adjusted operating profit of £10.9m (H1 2020: £10.3m) was 5.3% up on the prior year.  Adjusted profit before tax increased by 8.1% to £10.4m (H1 2020: £9.6m). The improvement in adjusted profits is mainly attributable to improved performances in Speciality Agriculture and Agricultural Supplies.

Adjusted earnings per share increased by 2.5% to 8.2p (H1 2020: 8.0p).

STRATEGIC AND OPERATIONAL REVIEW

The Group has commenced a strategic and operational review.  As a result of this, its activities are now structured into three divisions:

1. Speciality Agriculture
2. Agricultural Supplies
3. Engineering
   

Our strategy is to continue to invest in established businesses with distinct value propositions or new companies with proven technology and strong growth prospects.

We will add value by:

• Differentiating – investing in innovative technology, patented processes / products and better customer service.
• Optimising – simplifying, standardising and seeking synergies between related companies in our portfolio.
• Consolidating – creating scale and critical mass by consolidating similar businesses in a market sector.
• Growing – expanding our geographic presence, cross selling to our customer base and developing new products.
  

Each division has developed an initial plan in these areas, and these will be further refined over the coming months.  The Group will continue its strategic and operational review in the second half of this financial year.

SPECIALITY AGRICULTURE

Speciality Agriculture comprises our feed blocks, mineral supplements and trace element boluses in the UK, Europe, North America, and New Zealand.

Our businesses have performed strongly in all geographic areas driven by strong livestock prices and more seasonal weather patterns than prior years.  Overall, 101,000 tonnes of feed blocks and speciality minerals were sold worldwide, an increase of 8.4% year on year.  Sales revenues recovered in our animal health business, Animax.  Our project to automate the production process at Animax continues with benefits expected in the next financial year.

Our strategy remains to focus on molasses based feed blocks and specialist animal health products where our patented manufacturing processes deliver differentiated products. Initiatives to improve processes, supply chain buying and upgrade our manufacturing plants are underway. Growth opportunities to expand our presence in the USA, Canada and Germany are the highest priority, as well as developing more environmentally sustainable packaging for key products lines.

AGRICULTURAL SUPPLIES

Agricultural Supplies comprises our Carr’s Billington branded agricultural stores, machinery, fuel and compound feed business and our joint venture business Bibby Agriculture.

Total feed sales volumes increased to 318kt, an increase of 0.4% compared to the prior year. Machinery revenues were also strong, increasing by 29.1% year on year, and total retail sales also increased by 4.3% with like-for-like sales showing an 8.1% increase.  Fuel volumes were down 2.5% versus the prior year, with the main impact being felt in the first quarter of the financial year.

Significant increases in raw material prices impacted the profitability of the feed business in the first half, however, margins were stronger in retail, fuel and machinery which helped offset the impact of higher raw material costs.

In the UK specifically, the agreement of a trade deal with the EU in December 2020 has significantly improved farmer confidence, which has been further buoyed by strong farmgate prices.  The UK Agriculture Bill will also provide opportunities as farmers are incentivised by efficiency and environmental schemes.

Our strategy remains to provide all a farmer needs and differentiate ourselves through our product range, our customer and technical service levels, having a local presence, and the quality of our compound feeds. Operationally, a number of initiatives have been implemented to standardise product range and prices, improve supply chain arrangements and better manage raw material buying and pricing. Further opportunities to grow exist through the opening of new stores and industry consolidation.

ENGINEERING

Engineering comprises our fabrication and precision engineering businesses in the UK, robotics businesses in the UK and Europe and our engineering solutions businesses in the UK and USA.

The profitability of our engineering solutions business in the USA and UK has been resilient with continued work with large blue-chip customers in the nuclear and defence sectors. Additional work has recently been secured in the defence sector.

 The performance of our fabrication and precision engineering businesses have been adversely affected by low oil & gas prices. More positively, our fabrication business has received a significant level of orders in the nuclear sector. A turnaround plan is in place for the precision engineering business and performance is expected to be significantly better in H2.

The performance of our robotics business has substantively improved compared to H1 last year with exports to China expected to resume in H2 2021.

Our overall Engineering order book at £44m (H1 2020: £47m) is less than at the equivalent point last year but £7m higher than at the end of 2020 (FY 2020: £37m).   In the second half of the prior year a significant number of orders were subsequently cancelled following the outbreak of COVID-19.

Our strategy in the Engineering division is to provide specialist high margin services primarily to the nuclear and defence sectors. Our differentiators include patented MSIP®, Power Fluidics™ processes, the range of precision engineering machinery, the product life and quality of our robotic manipulators and a direct workforce with highly specialist welding capabilities.

Opportunities to grow exist with our current customer base by providing our full range of specialist services and by selectively pursuing new customers in the nuclear and defence industries in particular.

FINANCE REVIEW

Adjusted results

Revenue increased by 0.7% to £201.4m (H1 2020: £200.0m), with an increase of 9.8% in Speciality Agriculture offset by a reduction in both Engineering and Agricultural Supplies of 5.4% and 0.5% respectively.

Adjusted operating profit increased 5.3% to £10.9m (H1 2020: £10.3m).  Strong performances in Speciality Agriculture, up 24.7%, and Agricultural Supplies, up 33.5%, were partially offset by a reduction in Engineering of 24.1%.  Central costs were higher at £1.5m (H1 2020: credit of £0.1m) partly due to a change in provision for a non-recoverable debt, phasing, increased costs for performance related remuneration, and CEO handover costs.

Net finance costs of £0.5m (H1 2020: £0.7m) reduced year on year due to lower borrowings.  Net debt was £10.6m at the period end (H1 2020: 25.4m), driven by a strong operating performance with EBITDA of £12.6m and a reduction in working capital of £4.1m, offset by dividends of £4.4m, net capital expenditure of £2.3m and tax and interest of £1.9m.  The Group’s main banking facilities run to 2023.

The Group’s adjusted profit before tax increased by 8.1% to £10.4m (H1 2020: £9.6m). 

Adjusted earnings per share increased by 2.5% to 8.2p (H1 2020: 8.0p).  The increase is proportionately lower than the increase in profit before tax because of the higher effective tax rate, due to a higher mix of overseas profits and the impact of minority interests.

Adjusting items

The Group provides the adjusted profit measures referred to above to present additional useful information on business performance consistent with how business performance is measured internally.  These measures show underlying profits before certain adjusting items. 

In H1 2020, adjusting items were a net credit of £0.9m related mainly to adjustments to contingent consideration (H1 2020: £2.1m compared to H1 2021: £0.7m) partly offset by amortisation of intangible assets.  In H1 2021, they are a charge of £0.2m.  Full details of all adjusting items are given in note 8.

Statutory results

Reported operating profit on a statutory basis was £10.7m (H1 2020: £11.2m) and reported profit before tax was £10.2m (H1 2020: £10.5m).  Basic earnings per share on a statutory basis was 8.2p (H1 2020: 9.3p).

Balance sheet and cash flow

Net cash generated from operating activities in the first half was £14.1m (H1 2020: £4.9m). Net debt, excluding leases, fell to £10.6m from £18.9m at the financial year end (H1 2020: £25.4m). This is primarily related to strong working capital management resulting in a working capital inflow of £4.1m combined with improved EBITDA.

The Group’s defined benefit pension scheme remains in surplus but at a slightly decreased level of £7.8m compared to £8.0m at 29 August 2020.

Shareholder’s equity

Shareholders’ equity at 27 February 2021 was £119.0m (29 August 2020: £117.1m), with the increase primarily due to profit retained by the Group for the period offset by foreign exchange translation losses and dividends paid.

A first interim dividend of 1.175 pence per ordinary share will be paid on 8 June 2021 to shareholders on the register on 30 April 2021. The ex-dividend date will be 29 April 2021.

GOVERNANCE

The Group announces that, with effect from today, Kristen Eshak Weldon has been appointed as the Board’s Representative for Employee Engagement.  Kristen was appointed to the Board in October 2020 and takes on the role from Alistair Wannop who will be standing down from the Board in January 2022.   Kristen is currently Global Head of ESG and Impact Investing at Partners Capital.  Prior to this she served on the Executive Committee of Louis Dreyfus Company and co-headed the London office of Blackstone’s Hedge Fund Solutions business.  The Board considers that Kristen’s experience of stakeholder engagement places her well to ensure that wider views across the workforce are fully understood and considered by the Board in its decision-making processes.

PRINCIPAL RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES

The Group has a process in place to identify and assess the impact of risks on its business, which is reviewed and updated quarterly. The principal risks and uncertainties for the remainder of the financial year are not considered to have changed materially from those included on pages 28 to 30 of the Annual Report and Accounts 2020 (available on the Company’s website at http://investors.carrsgroup.com), with the exception of Brexit where the risk has reduced following the UK-EU trade agreement which took effect from 31 December 2020. 

OUTLOOK

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

For the 26 weeks ended 27 February 2021

Notes to the Full Year Results
For the 26 weeks ended 27 February 2021

The notes are available in the printable pdf of the results. To download it, please click here