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Announcements

Investor Information

Highlights - for the half year ended 30 November 2009 (unaudited)

Financial

• Revenue¹ down 11.4% to £175.5 million (H1 2008: £198.1 million)
• Operating profit¹ down 21.6% to £2.9 million (H1 2008: £3.7 million)
• Profit before taxation¹ up 11.1% to £2.0 million (H1 2008: £1.8 million)
• Headline basic earnings per share^{1, 2} up 7.1% to 3.0p (H1 2008: 2.8p)
• Interim dividend per share unchanged at 1.0p (H1 2008: 1.0p)
• Net debt reduced by £12.2 million to £17.5 million (30 November 2008: £29.7 million)
• Debt to EBITDA at 1.5 times (31 May 2009: 1.6 times)

¹ From continuing operations only; H1 2008 excludes Garden Centres, disposed of in October 2008.
² Excluding £Nil (H1 2008: £1.3 million) exceptional deferred tax charge arising from the phased withdrawal of industrial buildings allowances.

Operational

Food Distribution

• revenue during the period remained static at £20.6 million (H1 2008: £20.5 million) as increased distribution revenue offset lower levels of re-packing activity. Operating profit increased by 70.0% to a record £1.7 million (H1 2008: £1.0 million) as a result of improved operating efficiencies and increased backload utilisation.

Feeds

• revenue reduced by 16.6% to £41.2 million (H1 2008: £49.4 million) as raw material prices fell and volumes declined with dairy herds continuing to graze into the autumn. Operating profit reduced to £0.5 million (H1 2008: £1.4 million) as margins fell due to increased competition over lower market volumes.

Fuels

• revenue reduced by 11.3% to £113.7 million (H1 2008: £128.2 million) as a result of crude oil prices at significantly lower levels compared to prior year. Operating profit reduced to £0.7 million (H1 2008: £1.3 million) due to lower domestic heating oil demand and, most significantly, the more stable crude oil price compared to a period of record decline in the prior year.