THE OWNERS OF Kirkby Stephen's auction mart are celebrating increases in profits.

The Harrison & Hetherington Group of Carlisle has had a year of substantial progress with a profit before tax of £455,000, an increase of more than 13 per cent on the previous 12 months.

Besides owning the Kirkby Stephen mart, the H&H group's farmstock division runs sales centres at Borderway, Carlisle; Bristol; Broughton-in-Furness and Kendal through the H&H Kendal Partnership; Lazonby; Lockerbie; Middleton-in-Teesdale; Newcastleton and St John's Chapel.

In his statement within the annual report and accounts to the end of June this year, group chairman David Trimble said: "While we continue to face challenging times in agriculture and an ever-increasing burden of regulation, we feel we have laid the groundwork for further expansion in the future.

"Overall, we believe each of our group companies provides a quality of service to all our customers and I wish to thank our executives and their staff for their hard work and dedication over the year."

Mr Trimble and the group's board of directors are recommending to the annual general meeting on Friday, October 29, an enhanced final dividend of 10p per share, to be paid on December 10 to shareholders on the register at November 19.

This, said Mr Trimble, together with the interim dividend, represents an overall rise of 11.5 per cent on the previous year and continues the group's policy of steady increases in dividend commensurate with profitability.

The group's profit growth reflects a year of increased turnover, up by nearly £1 million on the previous year to £7.5 million.

This is despite the group having made slow progress in trying to persuade the Department for Environment Food and Rutral Affairs to pay the sums still owed for valuation work during foot-and-mouth; and also having to carry unprecedented increases in professional fees relating to the called-in planning application and public inquiry for the Rosehill commercial re-development, as well as an escalation in insurance costs.

The group's farmstock business, Harrison & Hetherington, has turned in a particularly strong performance with increased volumes and higher values in evidence across all ten sales centres. During the year under review the business handled 840,000 head of cattle and sheep (up 19p per cent on the previous year) with a throughput value of £98 million (up 14 per cent).