Shares in the renamed Carrs Group rose 8 per cent on first-half results showing a 5.4per cent rise in pre-tax profit to £10.6million.
Revenues at the Cumbria-based agriculture, food and engineering group, known until last week as Carrs Milling Industries, dipped from £214.7m to £208.6m but operating margins were up three points at 4.6per cent.
Carrs boosted its Scottish presence in 2013 with the opening of the world's most technologically advanced flour mill at Kirkcaldy, and the group said the £17m mill "continues to exceed initial expectations through improved operational efficiencies and an uplift in volumes". It added: "Our ability to produce the highest quality flour, coupled with our continuing high levels of customer service, has led to growing customer confidence and satisfaction."
Carrs also opened a new country store at Selkirk after the year end, adding to five existing Scottish stores in its chain of 27. It also owns a chain of petrol stations in the south-west.
Tim Davies, chief executive, said: "The strength of the group, with its international operations and diversity of business, has been demonstrated in the delivery of a record performance in the first six months. This result has been achieved despite some challenging conditions in some of the markets within which we operate. Trading in the second half has started well and we remain on track to meet the board's expectations for the full year."
In both the UK and US, Carr's branded feed block products achieved strong growth in market share, helping to offset the UK farming industry's challenge from milk prices. The group's engineering businesses won a big Russian contract and benefited from "signs of recovery in the UK nuclear sector" whilst facing some pressures from the falling oil price.
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