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LONDON (Alliance News) - Camellia PLC, which operates across agriculture, banking, engineering, food service and investments, on Thursday said trading has been mixed within the different areas of its business in the first part of 2016.
In the tea business, beneficial weather conditions in Kenya, Bangladesh and India led to a substantial increase in tea production, but subsequently tea sale prices have significantly reduced since the beginning of April, particularly in Kenya where Camellia said it has at times been selling close to the cost of production.
Production of macadamia nuts will be down this year on account of the drought at the time of flower set in 2015, Camellia added, but sales prices are "holding up reasonably well" as are those for avocados exported from Kenya.
In the pistachio segment, there was some rain in the winter months in California, although not enough to replenish the ground water reserves. Still, Camellia expects 2016 to be an "on" year for pistachio production, expecting a good crop.
Meanwhile, Camellia's Scottish engineering companies continue to suffer from lack of demand from the North Sea oil industry, but the aerospace engineering companies "remain busy", it said.
The food services division continues to produce marginal profits in "a very difficult environment", Camellia said, while private bank Duncan Lawrie Ltd is proceeding with its strategy to expand the customer base.
"We have been successful in securing new lending and deposit accounts and the board of Duncan Lawrie has been strengthened," Camellia said.
"It is too early to give any indication of the likely results for 2016," Camellia added.
Shares in Camellia were trading up 0.5% at 8,062.50 pence on Thursday morning.
By Karolina Kaminska; karolinakaminska@alliancenews.com @KarolinaAllNews
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