International agri-services group Origin Enterprises has today reported a drop in revenues for the six months to the end of January and said it was too early to issue guidance for the full year.
Revenues for the first half of its financial year fell by 2.7% to €831.7m from €854.9m the previous year due mainly to lower global feed and fertiliser prices.
But Origin's half year profit before tax rose to €7m from €5.3m, while total group operating profit was up to €17m from €14.1m.
It announced an interim dividend of 3.15 cent per share, unchanged from the interim dividend last year.
Breaking down its divisions, Origin said a larger area of Winter planting in the UK contributed to an increase in volumes in its Agriculture business, but in-field conditions in limited areas means total winter cropping remains below the level of a normal season.
It saw a "solid" start to the year in Continental Europe, with Poland performing well, but growers in parts of Romania remain cautious following two years of drought conditions.
Meanwhile, LATAM delivered strong volume growth in a challenging pricing environment with the depreciation in the Brazilian real the main reason for the decline in reported results.
It added that continued progress in its Living Landscapes division delivered €2.3m of operating profit growth in the period from both strong organic growth and the four acquisitions completed in the first quarter of the year.
The company also completed a €20m share buyback programme and returned €14.5m to shareholders in dividends.
Origin's chief executive Sean Coyle said the group delivered a good first half performance underpinned by a recovery in Agriculture volumes and strong growth in Living Landscapes.
"Improved in-field conditions across our geographies in the second quarter delivered higher volumes, with planting returning to more normal levels," Mr Coyle said.
"While the underlying performance across Agriculture was strong, reported numbers were negatively impacted by the devaluation of the Brazilian real relative to the euro," he noted.
The CEO said that consistent with Origin's strategy, it reported strong organic growth in Living Landscapes on the back of the addition of four new businesses which he said strengthens its environmental expertise and further complement its existing services.
"Our strategic focus on increasing our presence in the professional landscapes and environmental solutions sectors, and expanding the range of products and services we provide to the emerging nature economy, is driving greater earnings diversification and helping to mitigate earnings inconsistency over time," Sean Coyle said.
"Encouragingly, lower year on year price levels has seen strong demand in order volumes for our animal nutrition and soil nutrition businesses for the remainder of the year, however, given the significant levels of spring volumes yet to be delivered across all of our businesses, it is too early to issue guidance for the full year," he added.
Shares in the company moved higher in Dublin trade today.
