· Satisfactory results in line with market expectations despite tough trading environment
· Group revenue of £368.14m (2015: £377.38m) – impacted by deflation
· Profit before tax of £7.29m (2015: £8.34m)
Underlying pre-tax profit* of £7.37m (2015: £9.05m)
· Earnings per share of 30.01p (2015: 34.66p)
· Net cash increased to £4.28m (2015: £2.14m), helped by strong cash generation
· Net assets increased to £86.95m (2015: £82.86m)
· Proposed final dividend of 8.00p – takes total for the year to 12.00p (11.10p), up 8.11%
· Agricultural Division – revenue of £249.74m; operating profit of £3.01m
o affected by agri-sector downturn, especially dairy
o ongoing investment in facilities to support efficiencies and growth
· Specialist Retail Division – revenue of £118.28m; operating profit of £4.54m
o integration of Agricentre outlets (acquired October 2015) completed
o geographic reach strengthened
· Trading environment showing signs of recovery with improving output prices for farmers
o new financial year has started in line with management expectations
*Underlying pre-tax profit includes Group's share of pre-tax profit from joint ventures and associate investments but excludes the exceptional item and share based payments. A reconciliation is shown in note 14.