NWF Group plc (LON:NWF) shares rose on Thursday morning as it reported that trading is ‘significantly ahead of current market expectations and the prior year.”
In a trading update for the financial year ending 31 May 2018, the AIM-listed firm said the Fuels division had an excellent year, delivering outstanding service to customers across the country and performing particularly strongly in the cold extended winter conditions.
READ: NWF's cash generation making inroads into debt pile
In Food division, the business has been challenged by the on-take of significant new business, recruitment of new staff and the reorganisation.
While in the Feeds division, performance has improved as anticipated due to the delivery on the investment made in prior years and improved trading conditions in the dairy market.
The company said: “Net debt is lower than the Board's expectations and reflects the strong trading and further improvements in working capital management.”
Richard Whiting, Chief Executive of the company, said: "NWF has delivered an outstanding performance reflecting the focus on service across the group, particularly from the Fuels business during the challenging winter conditions experienced earlier this year.”
He added: “It is also positive to demonstrate a return on the investment made in the prior year and to report a lower level of net debt."
In morning trading, NWF Group’s shares rose 5.7% to 210.5p