Crawshaw soars after raising guidance again

The share price of Crawshaw rocketed on Thursday after the meat-focused retailer said that annual results would beat analysts' forecasts after a strong end to the year.Crawshaw, which operates 20 butcheries and two distribution centres across the UK, had said earlier in the year that profits for the 12 months to January 31st would be "materially higher" than market estimates after an "excellent" Christmas trading period.In the final weeks of the year, however, both sales and margins were "particularly strong", prompting the company to guide to full-year profits "further ahead of current market expectations".The consensus forecast ahead of Thursday's update was for a pre-tax profit of £0.8m for the year, up from £0.25m previously. Analyst John Cummins from house broker WH Ireland said he has now raised his estimate to £1m after "excellent progress" from the company.Crawshaw Chairman Richard Rose said: "I am also delighted to report that strong growth has continued into the new financial year. "Our plans to open additional shops are progressing well and we expect to open a new high street store towards the end of March 2014."As of 12:59, the share price had risen 23.33% to 33.3p.WS