Agri-services group Origin Enterprises grew its revenues by more than 50 per cent in the nine months to the end of April despite a reduction on volumes in Ireland and the UK.
The group, which provides agronomy advice, crop inputs and digital agricultural solutions to farmers, growers, landscapers and amenity professionals, has published a trading update for the three and nine months ended April 30th, 2022.
Group revenue was €880.6 million for the quarter, which was an increase of 47.3 per cent on the prior year.
While exceptional price volatility for both agricultural outputs and fertiliser persisted, the group experienced strong trading conditions throughout the period with good crop establishment, generally favourable weather conditions and strong on-farm sentiment.
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Group revenue for the nine months was €1.8 billion, an increase of 50.2 per cent year-on-year on a reported basis.
Ireland and the UK recorded an overall reduction in underlying volumes in the quarter of 8.7 per cent and an increase year-to-date of 0.4 per cent.
The quarter saw “encouraging volume performances” across the group’s seed and crop-protection portfolios, offset by reduced fertiliser volumes.
In Ukraine activity levels have reduced sharply since the start of the war, with the limited sale of last year’s crop significantly impacting on-farm liquidity.
The group’s “top priority” remains ensuring the safety and wellbeing of colleagues and the continued de-risking of the balance sheet in Ukraine. “The group continues to closely monitor the situation on the ground and support the limited localised operations in areas away from conflict, overseen by the local team,” it said.
The group commenced a share buyback programme on March 9th to repurchase up to €40 million of ordinary shares, and it is currently 96 per cent complete.
In terms of outlook, the group said it has continued to successfully navigate price volatility and supply chain disruptions across its markets, primarily resulting from the war in Ukraine and ongoing global energy, commodity and general inflationary pressures.
“The strong trading conditions experienced to date have continued into the fourth quarter across all three segments,” it said.
The group expects to deliver increased growth in earnings year-on-year, with full-year adjusted fully diluted earnings per share, excluding any impact of the ongoing share buyback programme, in the range of 64 to 68 cent for the full year.
