Agricultural group Wynnstay beats expectations with 24% rise in annual profit

The firm, which has operations in Llansantffraid and near Shrewsbury, saw pre-tax profit from continuing operations rise to £9.5 million, as revenue rose 18 per cent to £462.6 million.

Giving an update on its full year results which run until October 31, the group said sales were up in its agriculture division by 19 per cent to £334.3 million, while operating profit increased by 28.4 per cent to £4.29 million.

This was partly due to record sales of feed, grass seed and fertiliser, helped by the extended, warm and dry weather last summer.

Meanwhile, in its retail division, revenue was up 16.9 per cent to £128.2 million, while operating profit rose 16.7 per cent to £5.5 million.

The company saw strong sales of bagged feed, hardware and animal health products from its depots.

Gareth Davies, chief executive of Wynnstay, said: “I am pleased to report record profit and revenue in what was Wynnstay’s centenary year.

"These strong results reflected the continued recovery in farmer spending with the improvement in farmgate price, also the unusually long dry summer, which boosted feed, fertiliser and seed sales in the second half of the year. All of Wynnstay’s key activities, including sales across our network of depots, showed year-on-year growth.

“We continued to expand our trading area with a number of acquisitions. We now have a greater foothold in the West Country, and the acquisition of the Montrose fertiliser facility gives us our first operational presence in east Scotland.

“The UK agricultural trading backdrop remains robust although farmers have seen higher costs, particularly in feed, mostly driven by the long dry summer weather. While Brexit uncertainties remain, we are confident that British agriculture has positive long-term prospects, underpinned by macro-economic drivers as well as the UK’s relative lack of food self-sufficiency.

“Trading for the new financial year has started in line with management expectations. There are important trading months ahead and we will provide a further update at the group’s AGM in late March.”