Companies: CWK   

Pork producer Cranswick has delivered yet another stunning set of results, a towering 47% rise in profits before tax (and £525,000 of goodwill) to £7.1m being reported on sales up 14% to £102.7m. Delighted chief executive Martin Davey commented, 'these results are especially pleasing given that last year's figures were, at the time, record results'. One City analyst dubbed the figures 'absolutely magnificent'. What's more, the results were achieved against the backdrop of the foot-and-mouth outbreak. Agricultural companies, travel firms and even the odd software developer may have cited the crisis as a factor in their own poor performance, but not so Cranswick. 'There's probably around £250,000 of disinfecting costs in there', says Numis' Mark Hughes. Driving much of the growth was Cranswick's food business, which contributed sales of £68.6m - a 20% improvement on last year. Within this division the strongest performances came from Cranswick's gourmet sausage and high quality ham offerings. The company's two other main businesses - animal feed production and the supply of pets and food - also performed strongly. On the back of the figures Numis upgraded its full year profit forecast from £14.4m to £15m and, hints Hughes, 'these are probably a little cautious'. Perhaps even more significantly, a revised earnings estimate of 53.8p puts the company on a forward p/e of 12.17. A solid long-term buy.