Crawshaw posts meaty profits

Meat focused retailer Crawshaw reported an increase in full year pre-tax profit but warned that price conscious customers and rising meat prices has made it cautious about trading for the year ahead. During the year ended 31 January 2011 pre-tax profit rose to £0.6m compared to for £0.2m the same time a year earlier. Like for like sales were down overall by 1% compared to an 8% fall in the previous year.Sales were up a touch at £19.1m from £19m previously. EBITDA rose 25% to £1m.Commenting on trading chairman Richard Rose said, "In recent weeks there has been evidence to suggest that the retail trading climate has become more difficult. Whilst footfall has held up well, customers are becoming more interested in lower priced products.""This, coupled with the fact that meat prices are continuing to rise, leads us to be cautious about the outlook for the year ahead."Crawshaw is not recommending a dividend. Cash generated by operating activities increased to £1.1m from £0.6m a year ago. Net debt reduced to £0.5m from £0.9m. CJ