Genus talks up prospects

By FWi staff

DESPITE issuing a profits warning early this week Genus is upbeat about future prospects.

The cattle breeding and agricultural consultancy firm has been hit hard by foot-and-mouth, which has knocked 1.3 million off the forecast for the year ended 31 March.

Turnover has dropped by 2.5m since the outbreak started in mid-February, as farm visits by consultants and technicians have been severely restricted.

But chief executive, Richard Wood, says the company is unlikely to be affected in the long term. The markets reacted to this optimism and the share price rose by almost 45% to 1 Wednesday evening.