Carr's Milling eyes acquisitions

11-Nov-2013 - Last updated on 11-Nov-2013 at 16:15 GMT

Carr's Milling opened its Kirkcaldy flour mill for business in September

Carr's Milling Industries is eyeing acquisitions in the UK and overseas for all of its divisions, including its food business, which supplies flour to bakers and baked good manufacturers.

Following the release of the international agriculture, food and engineering group's full year results, group, ceo Tim Davies told FoodManufacture.co.uk: "We are looking to grow the business through acquisition in the UK and internationally."

He said the business had performed well over the year as a result of being ahead of the game in importing flour to UK customers in the wake of poor domestic wheat harvests.

"This year there's better quality wheat in the UK, so we'll switch sourcing to south east England," Davies added.

Kirkcaldy flour mill

Carr's Milling's £17M Kirkcaldy flour mill in Scotland, serving Scottish bakers and biscuit makers, was completed on schedule in September. It would offer a boost to Carr's Milling's ability to supply flour to the UK market, it said.

Kirkcaldy, the construction of which was commissioned in 2012, is the first to be built in Scotland for 20 years, according to the firm.

It claims it is the world's most technologically advanced mill, having been designed in partnership with Swiss engineers Bühler.

The mill had the latest generation of standard milling machinery, such as roller mills and sifters. It also incorporates more recent milling technology including wheat peeling and an optical sorter in its wheat cleaning section.

Carr's Milling also invested in a new flour storage unit, including flour blending and the latest methods of flour outloading at the mill.

'Delighted'

"We are delighted that our Kirkcaldy mill is operating on time and was built within budget," said Carr's Flour Mills director Duncan Monroe.

"The combination of location, efficiency, technology and increased capacity gives Carr's Flour Mills an exceptional platform from which to serve the Scottish and northern market."

Commenting on Carr's Milling's full year (FY) results, Investec analyst Nicola Mallard said: "Food continued to be difficult through FY13, but the new mill at Kirkcaldy is now operational and should pave the way for better returns from this activity ..."

The firm said it would continue to push the development of branded products and new technology across all its divisions.

Investment in expansion

The company said its agriculture division would benefit from investment in the expansion of its UK and US facilities that produce its dairy cattle supplement AminoMax.

Acknowledging an increase in the net debt of the business, from £2.5M in the previous financial year to £22.1M this financial year, Austin attributed this to investment in the Kirkcaldy mill and operations in Germany.

Carr's Milling reported a 17% increase in revenue in its food business to £94.2M in the 52 weeks to August 31, 2013, and a 26.5% increase in pre-tax profit, from £0.4M to £0.6M.

Annual profit before interest, tax, amortisation and depreciation rose by 20.3% to £22.2M on revenue up 15.8% to £468.1M, from £404.1M in 2012.