22nd May 2018 09:10
LONDON (Alliance News) - Cranswick PLC shares surged Tuesday after the company reported "record levels" of revenue and a 14% rise in pretax profit.
Cranswick shares were trading up 6.7% at London market open Tuesday at 3,376.00 pence.
For the financial year ended March, the company's revenue increased 18% to GBP1.46 billion from GBP1.24 billion year-on-year, although this figure includes an extra week in 2018. Like-for-like revenue was up 13%.
The company said the increase in revenue was driven by "robust growth" across all product categories and a 30% increase in export sales.
Fresh pork production represented 33% of the group's revenue, with performance in the pork market "comfortably ahead" of the UK fresh pork market, which declined 1%.
The meat producer reported pretax profit of GBP88.0 million, a 14% increase on the previous year at GBP77.5 million.
Cranswick lifted the full-year dividend by 22% to 53.7p versus 44.1p for 2017 achieving the "28th consecutive year of dividend growth", the Cranswick said.
"Trading in the current financial year, which will be weighted more towards the second half, has started in line with management's expectations," the company said.
"The board believes that the company is well positioned to continue its successful development in the current year and going forward."
Related Shares:
Cranswick