Carr’s Group is to sell its Food division to Whitworths for £24.9m net cash. The move enables management to focus investment on the Agriculture and Engineering divisions. These are engaged in geographically diverse activities where there is less competition, defensible IP and substantially greater opportunities for growth. While we believe the disposal is advantageous for the group, in the short term it will reduce earnings. We have revised our FY17 and FY18 estimates and cut our indicative valuation from 197p/share to 161p.
