Carrs Group Regulatory News (CARR)

CARR'S MILLING INDUSTRIES PLC

("Carr's" or "the Group")

Annual General Meeting/Interim Management Statement

Carr's (CRM.L), the agriculture, food and engineering group, announces its first Interim Management Statement for the 52 weeks to 1 September 2012, as required by the UK Listing Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

The statement relates to the 18 week period ended 7 January 2012 and is being issued to coincide with Carr's Annual General Meeting being held in Carlisle at 11.30 am today.

Overview

The business environment for agriculture during the period was favourable with prices for beef, lamb and milk remaining firm.

Following the disposal of the fertiliser business in July 2011, the core activities of Carr's have traded strongly with Group revenue and profit before tax ahead of budget.

Agriculture

Strong sales of low moisture feed blocks reflect continued growth in the UK and New Zealand as well as significant volume increases in the US following the adverse impact last year of heavy snow in the northern states of America.

At Scotmin Nutrition, trading benefited from the re-launch of Megalix in the UK and the re-organisation and investment programme completed last year.

Both the new £1 million AminoMax plant at Watertown, New York State, and the high moisture feed block plant, built with our joint venture partner in Shelbyville, Tennessee, opened in November 2011.

UK sales of compound and blended feed are slightly below budget, due to the unseasonal mild weather resulting in livestock being kept outside for longer.

Fuel sales volume is below that of last year due to the mild weather experienced to date. This situation will be mitigated by the full year's trading from the new depot at Hexham, opened in August, and a further new depot opened in late December at Cockermouth in Cumbria.

Retail sales are ahead of last year, due to an increased range of animal health products, and a positive contribution from the expanded retail network following the integration of Forsyths of Wooler and Safe at Work, and a new branch in Stirling which opened in June 2011. Machinery sales have grown, benefiting from the winning of new distribution franchises.

Food

Flour sales volumes were slightly ahead, reflecting the gains of new customers. However, overall margins continue to be low as the result of competition in an industry with significant surplus capacity. The benefits of our investment in the port at Kirkcaldy, including the improved supply of quality wheat, have been as expected.

Engineering

A number of contracts have been completed as planned and engineering order books remain strong, particularly at Wälischmiller.

Specialist fabricators, Bendalls, completed on schedule the contract to manufacture and ship pressure vessels to Bechtel in the US for the nuclear waste treatment plant at Hanford, Washington State.

Wälischmiller is achieving high productivity and has completed contracts, on time, in China, Germany and South Korea. A number of projects are scheduled for completion in the coming months for customers in France, Germany, Japan and Russia.  

Financial Position

The disposal of the fertiliser business substantially reduced the working capital requirements of the Group. Net cash at 3 December 2011 was £0.2 million, compared to net debt of £32.8m a year ago and to net cash of £4.6 million at 3 September 2011. The cash outflow since 3 September 2011 is the result of the seasonal working capital increase in the agricultural businesses during the winter months. The Group has total banking facilities of approximately £45 million.

Dividend

Subject to shareholder approval at today's AGM, the proposed final dividend of 13 pence per share will be paid on 20 January 2012 to shareholders on the register at close of business on 23 December 2011. The total dividend for the year is 26 pence per share (2010: 24 pence per share).

END

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