Donegal Investment Group has reported higher profits for the six months to the end of February due to a big improvement in the performance of its seed potato business.
The company said its profit before tax - from continuing operations - rose to €3.2m in the six weeks to February 28, up from €1.2m the same time last year.
The company said its adjusted earnings per share were also higher, rising from 16.5 cent to 30.1 cent.
Revenues for the six month period, however, fell to €49.9m from €46.4m, due to the ending of certain potato trading activities in the company's AJ Allan business.
Donegal said that while a significant portion of its revenue is sterling based, the negative impact of the weak sterling post Brexit has mainly been offset by margin recovery and the management of its exposure to the UK currency.
It also said it saw exceptional costs of €0.3m related to the ongoing legal case with respect to its shareholding in Monaghan Middlebrook Mushrooms.
In today's results statement, the company said that its seed potato business is now benefiting from the initiatives introduced in 2015.
Its food-agri businesses - and its speciality dairy business in particular - saw further strong volume growth but remained challenged by trading conditions post Brexit as a result of the fall in the value of the pound.
Donegal also said today that it was aware of speculation regarding the sale of its Grianan Estate in Co Donegal, and confirmed that the sales process is continuing.
"An offer has been received which may or may not result in a completed sale," the company added.
"The board is optimistic that all businesses will remain on plan for the remainder of the year and we will provide guidance on our expected out turn for our new year end (August 31, 2017) at an appropriate time later in the year," commented the company's chairman Geoffrey Vance.
