LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - Banking-to-agriculture group Camellia lifted full-year profits to £23.9m from £17.2m led by a strong performance from its Kenyan tea operations, although it warned that current trading was taking place in challenging market conditions.
Revenues rose to £257.8m from £238.9m a year earlier and the board has increased the final dividend to 95p a share from 92p for a total payout of 129p a share.

Earnings per share soared to 450.7p from 102.7p. Camellia's diversified portfolio includes private banking and financial services, food storage, wine production and engineering.

Chairman Malcolm Perkins said the outlook for the current year was "challenging".

"Climate change, and in particular erratic rainfall patterns, makes predicting crop volumes difficult. The start of 2016 has seen record tea production in Kenya which has resulted in a significant fall in the market price," he said.

"The continuing low oil price provides a challenge to our engineering businesses and low interest rates restrict returns in banking. However, the strength and diversity of our operations, the success we have had in bringing in new management where appropriate, and the ongoing turnaround, sale or closure of our loss making companies, all point to a more successful future."

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