Carr’s group shares rally following “significant improvement”

Shares in Carr’s group (LON:CARR) rallied on Wednesday after the company raised full-year forecasts following “significant improvement” in performance.

The agriculture and engineering group noted a strong performance during the 26 weeks until 3 March.

Group revenues were £200.1 million, up 13.2 percent from year previously. Adjusted pre-tax profits increased by 22.0 per cent to £10.9m, compared to £9 million in 2017.

The company also hiked its interim dividend by 13.2 per cent to 1.075p.

Tim Davies, Chief Executive Officer, said:

“We are very pleased with the performance of the Group during the first half of the year, which slightly exceeded the Board’s expectations for the period. This strong performance demonstrates the excellent recovery made in our Engineering division and builds upon the strategic progress made during the last year.”

Despite uncertainty relating to Brexit, the company said agriculture conditions had steadily improved in the UK, reinforcing confidence in the industry.

Mr Davies commented:

“In UK Agriculture, we now have greater visibility on the impact Brexit may have in relation to direct payments to farmers in the near term, although uncertainty remains on the issue of trade agreements both within the EU and the rest of the world. The clarity relating to direct support, together with improving farm incomes, means we are starting to see renewed confidence in the outlook for the industry. Our Engineering business is recovering well and we have strengthened management to drive further growth.

Looking forward, Davies added:

Trading in the second half has started well and the Board now anticipates that trading for the full year will be slightly ahead of its previous expectations. We are confident that our breadth of product offering, investments in acquisitions and research, and our international footprint leaves us well positioned for further growth across both our divisions in the medium term.”

Shares in Carr’s group trading +10.66 per cent as of 10.35AM (GMT).