Agri-services group Origin hit by weak sterling

Shares in Dublin-based agri-services group Origin Enterprises dipped yesterday after it said sterling’s weakness versus the euro impacted on its seasonally important third quarter revenues.

In a trading update, Origin said revenues fell 1.2%, to €548.7m in the three months to the end of April, with the bulk of that attributable to currency fluctuations. However, on an underlying basis, revenue for the period was 4.1% ahead of the same period last year, which had been impacted by poorer weather conditions.

For the first nine months of Origin’s financial year, revenues were up by 4.7% — and 7.1% on an underlying basis — at just over €1.11bn.