William Sinclair's interim results for the six months to March 31 have shown a return to profitability despite being compared with a nine-month period the year before.

The two comparison periods are not like-for-like as the company changed its year-end for accounting purposes. However, despite that, the company still managed to post a £0.18m profit in the six-month period, compared with a £0.24m loss in the nine months to March 31 2008.

Sales for the period were £22.3m and net debt was reduced by £2.14m compared with March 31 2008. The company has also said it despatched "record volumes" in March this year with an "increase in demand for vegetable growing compost as people grow their own food."

Chief executive Bernard Burns said: "Despite the severe recession, we are pleased to be able to maintain our interim dividend [1.0p]. A combination of having created better internal efficiencies and people choosing to grow their own food to save money has helped the business perform well. Following an early start to the harvest and a slight decline in the cost of raw materials, margins continue to improve.

"At this initial stage of the summer, we believe we are in a healthy position to withstand the economic backdrop."

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