(Alliance News) - Cranswick PLC on Tuesday posted a rise in profit and revenue for its financial year following strong gourmet and pork product sales.
For the year that ended March 25, the Yorkshire-based meat producer reported a pretax profit of GBP139.5 million, a 7.4% rise from GBP129.9 million the previous year.
Revenue was up by 16% to GBP2.32 billion from GBP2.01 billion the year prior, with Cranswick saying this reflecting "good control" of widespread inflation, and new products launched that responded to changes in market led demand.
Gourmet product revenue increased 20% annually, and represented 17% of the company's revenue, with strong volumes from Hull Cooked Sausages and the bacon facility accelerating during the year.
Fresh Pork posted a stronger annual performance, with revenue up by 16% from last year, and representing 26% of company revenue. Revenue increased as a result of higher average UK pig prices.
Poultry revenue was up by 6.7%, with the new GBP32 million prepared poultry facility in Hull being successfully commissioned at the beginning of the year. However, cooked poultry revenue was well below last year following the product recall last May.
Cranswick declared a final dividend of 58.8 pence per share, bringing the total payout to 79.4p, an increase of 5.0% from last year.
Looking ahead, Cranswick said that it had made a positive start to the new financial year, navigating through three years of economic disruption and uncertainty.
"Over the last twelve months all at Cranswick have demonstrated resilience and determination in abundance, enabling us to deliver a strong set of results and make further meaningful progress in delivering our strategic objectives." said Chief Executive Officer Adam Couch.
"We have successfully navigated three years of unprecedented disruption and uncertainty and we now have a much larger, more diverse, and better equipped business, which is primed to deliver the next phase of growth."
Shares in Cranswick were up by 4.7% at 3,288.00 pence in London on Tuesday.
By Will Neill, Alliance News reporter
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Cranswick (CWK)