CEO Carr’s Group to step down after profit warning

The chief executive of Carr’s Group will step down just three days after the company issued an earnings warning.

Peter Page has only held the top position since February, but the farming products maker said he would be leaving following its next annual general meeting in January next year.

Carr’s specialty agriculture arm has struggled in recent times with the soaring cost of ingredients and a prolonged drought in the US hitting sales volumes.

Last Friday, the Carlisle-based firm said expectations for August, traditionally a solid trading month, had moderated across its markets.

It added that higher than expected costs had resulted from the agreement to offload its agricultural supplies division for £44.5million to food and agriculture group Edward Billington and Son.

Accordingly, annual adjusted pre-tax profits are now predicted to be approximately £8million, compared to a prior forecast of £10million.

Tim Jones, chairman of Carr’s Group, said: ‘We thank Peter for skilfully navigating the business through a number of difficult and challenging years, including the successful disposal of our agricultural supplies division.

‘Peter will leave the group with a strong balance sheet, an engineering division with a strong order book and a speciality agriculture division poised for long-term growth when its end markets recover.’

Page initially joined the firm in November 2019 and became its non-executive chair two months later after an 11-year spell running Devro, a Scottish manufacturer of sausage skin casings and collagen-based products.

Prior to that, he held senior roles at poultry breeding company Aviagen and Suffolk brewery Adnams, famous for its Ghost Ship beer.

He became Carr’s executive chairman in October 2021 when Hugh Pelham quit as CEO just nine months into his tenure to ‘pursue other interests’.

‘I would like to thank all of my colleagues at Carr’s with whom I have worked over the recent years,’ Page remarked. ‘I will support the Board in the completion of key milestones before ensuring an orderly handover to my successor.’

Founded as a bakery in 1831, Carr’s supplies feed blocks, minerals and boluses for use by livestock, as well as engineering equipment for industries such as energy, defence, petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals.

Carr’s Group shares were 0.2 per cent lower at 125p on Monday morning and have fallen by 8 per cent over the past 12 months.