AGM Statement

RNS Number : 6298Z

Wynnstay Group PLC

20 March 2012

 



AIM:WYN

Wynnstay Group plc

("Wynnstay" or "the Group")

AGM Statement

Wynnstay, the agricultural and retail group, will be holding its Annual General Meeting this morning and will be providing the following comments on current trading.

Wynnstay's trading performance in the first four months of its new financial year (to 31 October 2012) has been encouraging. The Group is on target to meet management's budgets for the first half although Group revenues will be higher than initially expected since the anticipated levels of agricultural commodity price deflation have not materialised.

Fertiliser volumes are now seeing an improvement, with sales recovering after farmers held back orders in November and December in the hope of prices decreasing. In line with industry trends, demand for ruminant feed has been tempered by the unseasonably mild winter (in contrast to last year's harsh weather conditions) however sales are higher than in 2010 and demand for poultry feed has further increased. Spring cereal seed sales are good and Wynnstay is building its presence in the herbage seed market.  Trading activity at GrainLink (the Group's new and enlarged national grain marketing operation) is encouraging as is raw material trading at Glasson.  

The Group's specialist retail division continues to perform well, with Wynnstay Stores benefiting from high levels of non-discretionary spend by its farming customer base.  The roll-out of further Just for Pets stores is ongoing. In February, the 20^th pet product store was opened in Yardley, near Birmingham and two further store openings are planned for this financial year. 

Wynnstay remains well positioned for growth, supported by favourable global macro economic trends which are driving long term demand for agricultural products. In addition, the Group's balance sheet remains strong.  The Board continues to view the outlook for the remainder of the financial year positively. 

Enquiries:

Wynnstay Group plc	Ken Greetham, Chief Executive Paul Roberts, Finance Director	T: 01691 828512
Biddicks	Katie Tzouliadis / Sophie McNulty	T: 020 3178 6378
WH Ireland Limited (Nominated Adviser & Joint Broker)	Robin Gwyn	T: 0161 832 2174
Shore Capital (Joint Broker)	Stephane Auton / Edward Mansfield	T: 020 7408 4090

 

END

 

 

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