Ruralco chairman, Richard England, said the profit leap came on the back of a 11.3pc in sales to $431m compared with the same period the previous year.

Earnings before tax jumped 53pc to $16.3m while earnings per share rose 38.7pc to 23.3 cents.

Ruralco operates through a national footprint of businesses that specialise in rural merchandise, wool, livestock and property agencies, fertiliser

manufacture, stock feed and grain storage, handling and distribution and financial services.

CRT (Combined Rural Traders), a brand owned by Ruralco, is the largest network of independently owned stores and regional companies in agribusiness throughout Australia.

Mr England said directors had announced an interim, fully franked dividend of nine cents.

Ruralco managing director, John Maher said the result was a credit to the Ruralco team including staff, joint venture partners and members and reflected strong bottom line growth from all operating divisions, a solid increase in earnings per share and an annualised 18.6pc return on equity.

"During the past year we have made over a dozen acquisitions which have integrated well and added to the group's capacity to service a larger

number of customers across a broader geographic and activity footprint."