Origin reports recovery in Irish fertiliser sales

Origin Enterprises reported financial results for the six months to the end of January which showed a €1.7m increase in profit before tax to €7m, when compared to the same period a year earlier.

Group revenues dropped by 3.1% to €831.7m on a constant currency basis, with the company saying that lower feed and fertiliser prices drove the decline. Origin’s Ireland and UK agriculture operation saw a 5.3% drop in revenue to €430.5m and an operating loss of €1.2m, which was an improvement from the year-earlier operating loss of €4.6m.

The company said that the performance in the region was helped by stronger fertiliser demand in Ireland. While there was a recovery in winter cropping across the UK, softer commodity prices had an impact on grower sentiment.

Origin noted that there is an increased market focus on soil health which is causing an ongoing shift away from commoditised products towards enhanced efficiency fertiliser blends.

Feed ingredients, through the 50% stake in John Thompson and Sons Ltd delivered what was described as a “solid performance” during the period, reflecting “the shortage of fodder stock in the market following challenging growing conditions in 2024 and strong output prices for dairy, beef, poultry, pork and eggs”.

Commenting on the results, CEO Sean Coyle said: “Improved in-field conditions across our geographies in Q2 delivered higher volumes, with planting returning to more normal levels. While the underlying performance across Agriculture was strong, reported numbers were negatively impacted by the devaluation of the Brazilian Real relative to Euro.”