Last checked at 
(Alliance News) - Cranswick PLC on Tuesday said it remains confident in its long-term outlook, as it announced a dividend hike on a significant growth in earnings for financial 2020.
Shares in the meat producer were trading 4.2% higher at 3,782.00 pence each on Tuesday morning in London.
For the year ended March 28, Cranswick posted revenue of GBP1.67 billion, up 16% from GBP1.44 billion posted the year prior. Pretax profit totalled GBP104.0 million, up 20% from GBP86.5 million.
The improvement was attributed to a combination of new contract wins, strong export demand, uplift in poultry revenue, and the pass-through of higher pig prices.
Additionally, the Hull-based company said the average number of pigs processed each week during the recent year increased by 7.9% to 60,000, reaching record levels in March as a result of ongoing higher export demand and increased retail demand during the early stages of the Covid-19 outbreak in the UK.
A final dividend of 43.7p per share was declared taking its total annual dividend payout to 60.4p, up 8.1% from 55.9p paid for financial 2019.
Looking ahead, Cranswick said that while there is uncertainty in relation to "the longer-term effects" of Covid-19, it remains confident in financial 2021 outlook.
"Whilst the impact of Covid-19 will be ongoing for some time, we are confident we will continue to meet the challenges it presents. Brexit negotiations are still to be finalised and trade deals with other countries concluded. We are hopeful that the Covid-19 experience underlines and reinforces the importance of having a resilient and successful domestic food sector and that this is at the forefront of negotiators thoughts during discussions," the company said.
"There has been a positive start to trading in the new financial year, though we remain mindful of the uncertainty around the longer-term effects of the Covid-19 crisis and Brexit negotiations. Nonetheless, our outlook for the current year is unchanged and we have a solid platform from which to continue Cranswick's successful long-term development," added Chief Executive Adam Couch.
As at the end of March, Cranswick had cash of GBP21.5 million.
By Ife Taiwo; ifetaiwo@alliancenews.com.
Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
