AGM Statement
AIM:WYN
Wynnstay Group plc
("Wynnstay" or "the Group")
Annual General Meeting - Trading Update
Wynnstay, the agricultural and retail group, issues the following trading update prior to its Annual General Meeting, which will be held this morning.
"Wynnstay generated record results for the year to 31 October 2010 and a major strength of the Group continues to be its breadth of activities across the agricultural sector.
The new financial year has started well. Inflation, which we saw in the second half of the last financial year, is likely to affect the first half sales outcome but we are also seeing real volume growth. Feed volumes have been encouraging and, although ongoing demand will be influenced by farm gate returns, our presence across all the range of animal feeds markets should help to ensure a resilient overall performance. In the arable division, fertiliser sales are good. Fertiliser prices are higher now than last season and as we approach the busy buying period in the spring, this may affect demand. Spring cereal seed volumes are good, helped by the Woodheads Seeds acquisition. Grain and raw material trading continues to perform well and to expectations.
Our specialist retailing activities, comprising our rural stores network, Wynnstay Stores, and our Just for Pets chain, are performing well overall. While there is some change in consumer spending patterns at Just for Pets, farmers' spend at Wynnstay Stores is largely non-discretionary. We see scope for further growth across both specialist retailing operations. We recently added another pet products store, continuing our roll-out of the chain and taking the total number of our stores to 18.
As we indicated in our Annual Report, the short and longer term outlook for the Group is very positive. The Group is in robust financial shape, with very low gearing and generating good cash flows, and the UK agricultural industry stands to be a beneficiary of world macro economic trends. This favourable backdrop supports our plans to continue our steady expansion and we believe that the current financial year should be one of continuing progress."
Enquiries:
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Wynnstay Group plc |
Ken Greetham, Chief Executive Paul Roberts, Finance Director |
T: 01691 828512
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Biddicks |
Katie Tzouliadis / Sophie Lane
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T: 020 3178 6378 |
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WH Ireland Limited (Nominated Adviser & Joint Broker) |
Robin Gwyn
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T: 0161 832 2174
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Shore Capital (Joint Broker) |
Andrew Raca |
T: 020 7408 4090 |
This information is provided by RNS