McBride, the manufacturer of own label cleaning and hygiene products, has reported robust first-half figures as consumers concerned about the virus continued to buy more cleaning products.
Over the six months to 31 December 2020, the British firm’s revenues rose 3.6% to £362.9m with increased demand for cleaning, dishwash and aerosol products outweighing weakness in laundry lines.
Adjusted operating profit rose from £11m to £19m with operating profit margin increasing by 1.9 percentage points to 5.2% after a further softening of certain raw material and packaging pricing.
In McBride’s core Household business, UK revenues slipped 10% to £74.1m due to contracts lost in the prior year, mainly in laundry categories. However, cleaners, which represent 35% of its total UK sales, grew 15.7% due to Covid-19 related demand and contract wins.
The lower reported revenues in the UK were offset by strong performances overseas with the North (+16.6%) and South (+9.7%) Europe regions and Asia (+12.6%) leading the way.
McBride is holding a capital markets event today where it will outline its new strategy entitled ‘Programme Compass’. This was implemented on 1 January this year and involved McBride reorganising its business into five divisions: Liquids, Unit Dosing, Powders, Aerosols and Asia Pacific. Each division has its own strategy and role, led by divisional managing directors.
The new structure aims to give McBride the “focus and accountability” to deliver its annual revenues target of €1bn within the next five years.
“Through the comprehensive strategic review, all divisions and central functions have developed individual strategies, aligned to their differing dynamics, in order to achieve this collective goal,” it stated.
Commenting on today’s results statement, CEO Chris Smith said: “I am proud of the way our company has responded to the challenges faced by the business from both Covid-19 and Brexit in the period and with these robust financial results for the six months.
“Our teams have shown significant commitment to complete the Compass strategy preparation and business reorganisation programme on schedule. The group has been operating under its new divisional structure since the beginning of 2021 and I can already start to see beneficial effects of the new management teams leading their businesses.”
NAM Implications:
- Time to reassess relative competitive appeal…
- …at least in cleaning categories?
