Cranswick bringing home the bacon with 8% profits jump

Cranswick Plc posted an 8% rise in full-year pretax profit as the British pork supplier managed to sell more sausages and bacons amid a tough economy, and raised its final dividend 10%.

However, the company, which supplies fresh pork and gourmet sausages to Britain's food retailing and manufacturing sectors, said on Monday it expected a tough year ahead.

"The difficulties facing the UK consumer, along with rising raw material prices and the dynamics of the competitive market in which the company operates suggests that the year to March 31, 2012 may be more demanding than usual," Chairman Martin Davey said in a statement.

For the year ended March 31, the pretax profit rose to £47.1 million from £43.8 million last year.

Underlying sales grew 4% to £758 million on volumes, which were up 6%.

Cranswick declared a final dividend of 18.7 pence, making a total for the year of 27.5 pence, an increase of 10% on last year.

The company also appointed Adam Couch, managing director of its fresh pork business, as its chief operating officer.

Cranswick shares, which have lost 10% of their value since the beginning of the year, closed at 766.5 pence on Friday on the London Stock Exchange, valuing the company at £365 million.