Cranswick has posted yet another year of strong growth. The business is witnessing growth in all its categories and strong innovation is keeping its offering relevant and desirable. Management has guided towards significant capex investment in 2017 to continue increasing capacity to match its growth prospects.
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Cranswick |
Strong growth continues in H1
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Consumer |
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1 December 2017 |
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Cranswick posted another strong set of results (adjusted H1 pre-tax profit up 17%), demonstrating that the company’s innovation is keeping the products relevant and desirable to both consumers and retailers. As part of a material capex programme, management is embarking upon a significant expansion of its poultry business: a new state-of-the-art facility in Suffolk will double its existing capacity. Poultry currently represents just 11% of sales but continues to be an attractive target market for the company, given its growth.
Premium and convenience skew remains a winner
Cranswick's product offering is skewed towards the premium end of the market, and this is growing strongly. Cranswick continues to tap into these trends by launching new ranges in convenient formats. Its exposure to the café and quick-service restaurant (QSR) segment has also enabled it to gain deeper consumer insights around customer preferences and new recipes, and use this knowledge to aid innovation in the retail business. The company continues to invest in its facilities to remain relevant and agile. Speed of innovation remains an advantage in the space, and state-of-the-art facilities help to deliver both flexibility and cost savings.
UK retail environment remains tough
The UK retail environment remains tough: the big four supermarkets have returned to growth following a period of decline, but discounters are still gaining share. However, over time, management has demonstrated its ability to deal with a tough set of customers. While FX-related cost increases remain an issue across the industry, it is positive that pig prices have been falling since the end of July.
Valuation: Premium to competition
Trading at a consensus FY18e P/E of 23.6x, Cranswick continues to be valued at a premium to the meat processing and food manufacturing peer group, and appears to be supported by its near-term growth prospects. Bolt-on acquisitions remain a possibility and could prove to be a catalyst for the shares, although management has demonstrated its willingness to undertake capex projects in the absence of suitable acquisition targets in order to expand the business. Volatility is likely to remain a feature due to the agricultural nature of its raw materials. Given the tough consumer backdrop, management expects to offset some labour cost increases with cost savings from increased automation.
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Consensus estimates
Source: Bloomberg. Note: *Adjusted to exclude amortisation of intangible assets, impairment of goodwill, profit on sale of businesses and net IAS41 valuation movement on biological assets. |
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Disclaimer
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Disclaimer
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Speedy Hire has signalled that it is fully through a transformation process and clearly focused on profitable growth. H1 revenue (ex-disposals) was almost 7% higher, at £183m, and management flagged that it expects to exceed previous adjusted PBT expectations for the full year by c 6-7%, which will form the base for future years. The positive results, benefiting from the recent operational restructuring, two recent bolt-on acquisitions and positive demand, point to sustained investor support.