Origin Enterprises’ preliminary results for its financial year which ended on 31 July show group operating profit up 10% to €99m and earnings-per-share at 54.21c and almost 13% improvement.

Revenue rose slightly to €2.11bn from €2.05bn the previous year.

The company announced a final dividend of 14.5c per share, bringing total dividends for the year to 17.3c per share.

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CEO Seán Coyle said Origin delivered a “very strong” performance during the 12 months in both its agriculture and living landscapes segments.

He said that growth in Ireland and the UK was supported by improved winter planting area and increased demand for animal and soil nutrition.

However, the driest spring in 50 years in the UK did lead to some challenges.

In Europe, drought was again a factor as several challenging seasons of dry conditions in Romania impacted grower investment.

Poland delivered what was described as a “solid performance”.

Financial results in Brazil were impacted by the devaluation of the country’s currency and challenges in the agricultural retail channel due to distributors entering reorganisation and tighter credit conditions.

Coyle said that with grain and oilseed prices weakening throughout the year “farmers were more selective with their spending on inputs”.

On the other hand, the company’s animal nutrition segment saw significant feed demand though the financial year which was supported by firm dairy, beef, poultry, pork and egg prices.

Fertiliser demand was also strong during the year, led by Irish customers where dairy and beef prices supported sustained application across grassland.

Overall fertiliser volumes increased year-on-year, with average pricing broadly stable when compared to the previous 12 months, the company said.

The Living Landscapes segment saw a 24.8% increase in revenue and a 39.1% increase in operating profit, driven by a mixture of growth and acquisitions.

The company’s environmental business has 175 ecologists and says it now operates “one of the UK and Ireland’s largest dedicated ecological platforms”.

Shares in Origin gained more than 2.5% to trade at €4 in the wake of the announcement of results.