Higher profit on lower turnover for Dewing Grain
© Tim Scrivener
Norfolk-based merchant Dewing Grain saw pre-tax profit rise on a slightly lower turnover in the year to 30 June 2020.
The fall in turnover to £41.5m (£45.5m in 2019) was mainly the result of lower commodity prices, while feed grains produced the biggest profit for the year, said the company.
Pre-tax profits rose to £255,000, compared with £167,475 in the previous year.
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A dry 2019 harvest gave a straightforward trading year with limited quality issues, said the directors’ report.
“The biggest influence on the year was the Covid-19 pandemic,” it said. “Reading what it meant for price movement, via currency fluctuation, or changes in consumption of individual grains, increased price volatility dramatically.”
The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the business in several ways, with the biggest issue the sudden stop to malting barley trade as pubs and restaurants shut down.
This meant 7,000t of malting barley having to be carried over into the 2020 grain marketing year because of the drop in demand, with a knock-on effect of storage congestion.