NWF Group hampered by fuel and food

Full year figures from NWF Group, the specialist agricultural and distribution business, were in line with expectations as the firm suffered a sharp fall in profits.Revenue was up 16.5% to £540.2m but pre-tax profits took a dive from £7.6m to £5.1m.Basic earnings per share down 29.6% to 8.1p and the full year dividend was maintained at 4.5p per share.The firm saw falls in both its feeds and fuels divisions.Feeds showed an operating profit of £2.7m, compared to £4m the year before, while fuels came in at £0.6m, down from £3.3m in 2011. The firm said feeds were hit by volatility of commodity prices and the high prices impacting farmers.Meanwhile fuels suffered from an extremely warm winter, high oil prices and a tough economic environment."NWF has delivered a profit in line with the Board's expectations and has been successful in reducing debt further than had been expected," said Chief Executive Richard Whiting.