Farming: Fertiliser and feeds fuel Carr's bumper crop

After posting the best-ever six-month figures, Chris Holmes, the chief executive of Carr's Milling Industries based in Carlisle, was in an upbeat mood yesterday.

He attributed most of the increase in pre-tax profit from 5.3 million to 7.9m and the 27 per cent increase in turnover to 204.7m to improved results from fertiliser and animal feed sales, both of which saw increased turnover with several factors driving this.

The first was increased sales of fertilisers, with higher cereal prices encouraging farmers to increase their grain acreage.

The second factor was that fertiliser prices have been rising over the past six months and farmers have been purchasing their supplies earlier.

Holmes said it was difficult to know exactly how much of the sales increase was attributable to genuinely increased volumes as opposed to "early purchases", but he added that the company was adopting a cautious view on what was still to come in the normal peak sales periods of March and April.

"In addition to rising volumes, the increase in prices had provided some windfall to margins as raw materials purchases were completed early in the year when prices were lower," he said.

The compound feed business figures were only slightly ahead of the previous results, with Holmes blaming poor milk prices affecting purchases by dairy producers.

Looking forward, he was hopeful that recent increases in milk prices would translate into more feed sales, but he accepted that the main animal feed season was over for the year.

The purchase last summer of feed block company Scotmin Nutrition has proven to be shrewd move for Carr's with increased market penetration in the United States, Europe and New Zealand.

Holmes' confidence in the future of the agricultural sector was strong and he indicated that, when other opportunities arose, his company would continue on the acquisition trail.

Only last week Carr's announced the opening of a new base at the Stirling Agricultural Centre.

The company announced that it would be paying three dividends this year, with the first of these, 6.5p per share, being paid next month.