Camellia expects profits to exceed forecasts

A major agriculture, engineering and banking group says it is expecting to deliver a profit above forecasts for this year.

Camellia, which is headquarted in Maidstone, says good weather conditions and previous investment has seen agricultural volume on its key crops "now anticipated to be at or near record levels".

Established 129 years ago in a small tea garden in the hills of north-east India, the firm today employs over 80,000 people worldwide.

Camellia has tea plantations in India, Kenya and Bangladesh
Camellia has tea plantations in India, Kenya and Bangladesh

And it says volumes for core crops such as tea, macadamia and avocado have performed beyond expectation this year.

In a trading update the company said: "Excellent volumes have however been accompanied by volatile prices.

"In Bangladesh the tea price has seen record highs and in Kenya and Malawi average tea prices have been above our earlier expectations given the volumes in the market.

"As a result, the board believes the profit before tax of the group for the year is likely to be substantially above market forecasts."

"The harvests for avocados and macadamias are now substantially complete and whilst the significant fall in the prices of avocados globally has largely negated the increase in volumes, average macadamia prices in the year to date have been higher.

"Our remaining crops have performed in line with expectations. As a result, the board believes the profit before tax of the group for the year is likely to be substantially above market forecasts."

The firm has recently disposed of engineering business BMT (Great Yarmouth) and chemical company XiMo.

It is also pushing ahead with plans to purchase land in Tanzania and additional tea gardens in Assam, India.

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