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(Alliance News) - Anpario PLC on Wednesday said challenges in the global agricultural industry hurt its annual profit and revenue, but expects to see improvements in 2024.
The Nottinghamshire-based animal feed additive manufacturer said pretax profit plunged 24% to GBP2.8 million in 2023 from GBP3.7 million the year before.
This resulted from a 6.3% drop in revenue to GBP31.0 million, from GBP33.1 million a year ago. The decrease in revenue was reflected by "continued difficult market conditions experienced through the year", the firm explained.
Anpario upped its final dividend by 2.0% to 7.50 pence per share from 7.35p in 2022, bringing the total dividend for the year to 10.7p, up 1.9% from 10.5p per share.
Looking ahead, Anaprio said it expects to realise increased volumes and cost reductions in 2024, and added that 2024 has started well.
Chair Matthew Robinson commented: "2023 was a challenging year for the global agricultural industry and Anpario's results reflect this. These challenges arose not only from energy, agricultural commodity and specific raw material prices, but also because many in the animal nutrition sector started 2023 with excessive stock levels, leading to de-stocking over the year.
"The final quarter of 2023 delivered a welcome improvement in sales volumes and gross margins that has continued into 2024, suggesting both that the global situation is improving and that management's actions to improve margins are delivering results," he added.
Shares in Anpario rose 2.4% to 235.50 pence each in London on Wednesday morning.
By Sabrina Penty, Alliance News reporter
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