Frontier Agriculture has posted a near 30% decline in group operating profit, down from £52.1m to £37m, as a result of the lower winter wheat plantings.
This was due to the wet autumn of 2023 and consequent reduction in spring crop protection and fertiliser purchasing, the grain merchant said.
The results, for the year-ending June 2024, also show that profit before tax was £40 million, in line with prior year, which was £40.2m.
Frontier Agriculture, which is one of the UK's leading crop production and grain marketing business, employs around 1,100 people.
It operates across all aspects of arable crop production and grain marketing, supplying seed, crop protection products and fertiliser to farmers, as well as providing agronomy advice.
Over the last three years, the firm has invested in a number of adjacency businesses, including start-ups associated with its supply chains and farm-gate activities.
Principal investments in this category have been in agricultural banking through Oxbury, which Frontier is one of the founding investors since 2018.
In the year-ending 2024, Frontier’s investment in agricultural banking appreciated in value by £16.8m, which offset the downside impact in the group operating profit.
Frontier senior executive director, Mark Aitchison said: "Like many of our farmer customers, diversifying income streams in parallel with volatile trading activities provides some security of earnings.
"Our adjacency investments are all in areas we believe can benefit our customers, providing for us both the opportunity to bring more certainty.
"Robust earnings enable us to invest in the core business at a consistent rate during periods of downturn, and ensures we continue to develop products and services for the future."
