Wynnstay confident for year ahead

22nd Jun 2011 08:18

Animal feeder supplier Wynnstay Group revealed a 12% increase in half year pre-tax profit and said it remains confident about prospects for the year and beyond.Profit before tax rose to £3.97m in the half-year to 30 April from £3.55m a year earlier. Revenues increased to £164.57m from £120.34m previously. Agricultural supplies contributed £129.76m while specialist retailing contributed £34.65m, up from £32.56m in 2010.Wynnstay Stores like-for-like sales climbed 7% following strong levels of non-discretionary spend by farmers.CEO Ken Greetham commented, "Wynnstay has achieved record interim results, which are particularly pleasing given that they were set against the backdrop of an agricultural market which has experienced significant inflation in raw material prices.""The group's diversified offering within the agricultural sector continues to be a strength and we saw volume increases across all our major agricultural activities - and in seed volumes in particular, thanks to the contribution from Woodheads, which we acquired in May last year."The interim dividend has been increased 8% to 2.6p. Net assets were up 19% to £49.96m.At 8:17am in London, shares of Wynnstay were trading at 360p, up 1.5p.CJ