CAMELLIA PLC
FINAL RESULTS
Camellia Plc (AIM:CAM) Final results for the year ended 31 December 2020.
Malcolm Perkins, Chairman, stated:
“2020 was a tough year for all of our operations, people and communities globally. The consequences of the pandemic were unpredictable and have at times tested our resilience. However, it is testament to the quality of our management teams, our employees and our financial prudence that we ended 2020 with an underlying operating profit.
“While the UK is returning to normality to the benefit of some of our UK based businesses, we have concerns about further waves of the pandemic across India, Bangladesh and East Africa. We do not believe that normal trading conditions will emerge until 2022, and some businesses will continue to feel the effect of the pandemic for some time thereafter.”
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Financial highlights |
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Year ended |
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Year ended |
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31 December 2020 |
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31 December 2019 |
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£'m |
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£'m |
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Revenue |
291.2 |
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291.5 |
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Underlying profit before tax* |
16.0 |
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17.4 |
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Separately disclosed significant items |
(8.2) |
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4.9 |
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Profit before tax |
7.8 |
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22.3 |
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(Loss)/profit after tax for the year |
(0.8) |
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15.1 |
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(Loss)/earnings per share |
(181.0) |
p |
300.5 |
p |
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Total dividend for the year |
144 |
p |
144** |
p |
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* Profit before tax excluding separately disclosed significant items
** Including the special dividend of 102p declared in September 2020
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Stable revenue, despite the pandemic, with growth in Agriculture, which now accounts for 85% of group sales. |
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Underlying profit before tax from continuing operations down 8%. |
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£8.2m net charge resulting from legal and other expenses relating to the settlement of claims concerning our East African operations and largely pandemic-related impairment charges offset in part by gain on sale of Horizon farm property. |
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Net cash of £76.0m and an investment portfolio with a market value of £48.7m at 31 March 2021. |
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Dividend maintained at 144p. |
Strategic highlights
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Continued investment in core crops of tea, macadamia and avocados including planting acreage in South Africa and at our new farm in Tanzania; continuation of trials of blueberries and avocados in Kenya. |
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Overhaul of governance procedures with focus on Safeguarding and Human Rights. |
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Sale of Horizon farm property in USA. |
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Sustained focus on production efficiencies and expense management has helped contain costs. |