Displaying items by tag: mill

Agriculture, food and engineering group Carr's Milling Industries plc has posted a 36% rise in first-half, pre-tax profits to £10.1 million, compared to the same period last year.

The increased earnings were made on sales 18% higher at £231.6 million for the 26 weeks ended 2 March 2013.

The Carlisle, UK-based group said the gains reflected increased levels of activity across all businesses, as well as other factors, including the closure of a competitor's mill in Scotland.

The shutdown of the Ranks Hovis mill in Glasgow in March 2013 had eased some capacity-related pressures in the Scottish market, said Carr's interim management statement for its financial year ending 31 Aug.

On-going rationalisation coupled with a poor harvest marked a change in the UK milling market, added Carr’s, which expects to capitalise on these trends with its port-located mills plus the start-up of a new mill.

The £17-million mill at Kirkcaldy is on track for commissioning in September, with efficiencies and improvements in operating margins expected to kick in next year.

Elsewhere, the company has opened a new plant at Lancaster in June to supply a patented protein supplement for dairy cattle in the UK market.

The plant uses the manufacturing technologies and processes pioneered at a facility in Watertown, New York State, where £1.6 million is being invested to increase capacity of the product by the year-end.

There was a positive message, also, about Carr's engineering division, which reported increasing global demand for remote handling equipment and robotics from the nuclear and petrochemical industries.

Its Wälischmiller unit, based in Markdorf in southern Germany, found buoyant demand for remote handling and robotics products.

"Several major contracts have been completed in the period and the order book continues to be healthy," said Carr's, noting plans for additional capacity.

Meanwhile, Bendalls' multi-million dollar contract with Hyundai to supply pressure vessels for BP Quad 204, west of the Shetland Islands, will be near-complete by the end of the financial year, with the remainder delivered by December.

Sales momentum at Carrs MSM accelerated during the period with the business benefiting from the ‘life of plant' contract at Sellafield, and financial performance is ahead of budget, the group concluded.

(Image source: Carrs)