Analysts raised profit forecasts for Robert Wiseman Dairies on Thursday after the milk processor said the impact of weak cream prices on its profits would not be as bad as it had feared.

Last November the group said a year-on-year fall in bulk cream prices from £1400 to £800 a tonne could cut pre-tax profits in the second half to March by £7m. However, Wiseman will cut the price it pays farmers for raw milk by 2.2p per litre from February 1, and this would ease the problem in the final two months of the financial year.