Genus FY profit growth seen ahead of expectations

Animal genetics company Genus said on Monday that profit growth for the year ending 30 June 2021 is set to be ahead of its previous expectations following a strong first-half trading performance.

The strong trading reported at the annual meeting in November has continued through the first half of its financial year, the company said, with adjusted pre-tax profit in actual currency now expected to be between £47m and £49m for H1, up from £36.6m in the six months to the end of December 2019. Revenue for the period is set to be between £285m and £287m, up from £270.7m.

Genus hailed high growth in volumes, revenue and adjusted operating profit across its operations by both its PIC and ABS divisions. Business trends are consistent with those announced at the AGM, including further strong growth in particular by PIC in China and by ABS in Brazil, Russia, India and China, it said.

"The prevalence of Covid-19 across the globe has increased substantially since the trading update provided in November and Genus expects there will continue to be some challenges for our customers and employees for the remainder of our financial year, despite the prospect of better conditions as vaccines are being made available," it said.

However, based on strong first-half trading and current momentum in PIC and ABS, the company anticipates that while growth in the second half will likely be lower than the first, it will perform ahead of its previous profit growth expectations for the year ending 30 June 2021.