H&H's profits double on renewed export trade
UK - Harrison & Hetherington, the UK's largest livestock auction company, has posted hugely encouraging results for the six months to 31 December 2006 - with profits almost doubling from a year earlier.
16 February 2007
1 minute read
The turnover of the group, which has a wide range of interests, increased by 12.3 per cent to £4.6 million.
H&H, through its eight auction centres, had a buoyant autumn sales period following the reopening of the export market for UK beef and live cattle in May last year.
Cattle prices were much firmer, and the business increased its share for live numbers.
The increase in turnover came despite pressure on farmers' cash flows following yet another delay in delivering the single farm payment in England.
Alan Bowe, the company's chairman, said: "Five of our operating companies are ahead of either their budgets or their actual positions for the same period a year ago.
"However, I would like to add a note of caution in that while the group's result has been substantially enhanced by a strong performance in our farm stock business, the continued pressure on agriculture, particularly in the dairy sector and, to a lesser extent, in the sheep industry, will make the maintenance of this performance more challenging in the future."
Source: The Scotsman
