LONDON (Alliance News) - Camellia PLC on Tuesday said it expects to report profit for 2018 ahead of market expectations after its production volumes and crop prices grew in the year.
The agricultural production company anticipates the volumes of its core crops, including tea, macadamia and avocado to be at or near record highs in 2018.
Camellia said the improvements followed favourable weather conditions during the year and substantial investments in the development of the company.
The company also noted that high volumes have been accompanied by volatile prices. In Bangladesh the tea price has seen record highs, while in Kenya and Malawi average tea prices have been above Camellia's expectations.
As a result, the company believes that pretax profit will come in "substantially above market forecasts". In 2017, Camellia delivered pretax profit of GBP27.6 million.
Looking forward, the company said it agreed to acquire two additional tea gardens in Assam, India, as it progresses on disposal of its engineering unit British Metal Treatments (Great Yarmouth) and its holding in chemical's firm XiMo AG.
Camellia shares were trading up 4.9% on Tuesday at 9,800.00 pence each.
Camellia (CAM)