The fertiliser division that gave a significant boost to Carr’s Milling Industries 12 months ago fell into the red this year. As a result the agricultural supplier’s pre-tax profits for the year to August 29 fell from £12.9m to £7m on revenues of £350m, compared to £372.3m in the same period last year.

Richard Inglewood, chairman, cited the absence of the previous year’s massive increase in commodity prices and 40 per cent uplift in milk prices. Both trends had reversed, he said, particularly hurting the fertiliser business, which had swung from a star performer to a lossmaker.