Carrs Group Regulatory News (CARR)

12 March 2020

CARR'S GROUP PLC ("Carr's" or the "Group")

Trading Update

Carr's (CARR.L), the Agriculture and Engineering Group, today announces the following trading update ahead of announcing its Interim Results for the 26-week period ended 29 February 2020.

Agriculture

Since the last trading update on 7 January 2020, conditions in both UK and US agricultural markets have remained challenging which, combined with the continued mild weather, has meant that volumes and margins for feed and supplements are significantly behind management's expectations. Cost control measures implemented in the first half have only partially mitigated this adverse impact. 

Engineering

As previously reported, Engineering started the year slowly, but the strength of the new order pipeline, particularly in Global Robotics, had been expected to more than offset this over the remaining three quarters. Since January 2020, delays in receiving expected orders destined primarily for Japan and China now mean that this will not be the case.

Group

As a result of the continuing challenging agricultural environment, both in the UK and overseas, together with a delay to engineering contracts in Asia, the Board anticipates the Group's performance for the current financial year to be significantly below its expectations.

The Board is mindful of the significant uncertainty which remains in agricultural markets. It is, therefore, in the process of implementing further cost reduction measures which should better position both divisions beyond the current financial year.

The Company will provide a further update on trading with its Interim Results on 15 April 2020.

- Ends -

Enquiries:

Carr's Group plc

Tim Davies (Chief Executive)

Neil Austin (Group Finance Director)

Tel: +44 (0) 1228 554 600

Powerscourt

Nick Dibden / Lisa Kavanagh / Sam Austrums

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7250 1446

About Carr's Group plc:

Carr's is an international leader in manufacturing value added products and solutions, with market leading brands and robust market positions in Agriculture and Engineering, supplying customers in over 50 countries around the world.

Its Agriculture division manufactures and supplies feed blocks and supplementation products for livestock, distributes farm machinery and runs a UK network of rural stores, providing a one-stop shop for the farming community. Its Engineering division designs and manufactures bespoke equipment and provides technical engineering services into the nuclear, petrochemical, oil and gas, pharmaceutical, process and renewable energy industries, including robotic and remote handling equipment.