Macfarlane Group publishes its 2021 Interim Results
Macfarlane Group PLC (“Macfarlane Group”, “Macfarlane” or “the Group”) announces its unaudited results for the six months ended 30 June 2021.
Highlights
• Macfarlane Group grew its sales by 26.5% versus H1 2020 to £133.5m, while operating profit before amortisation and impairment at £11.1m and profit before tax at £7.8m have both more than doubled.
• This also represents a 24.2% increase in sales and a doubling of profit before tax compared to the same period in 2019, prior to any impact from Covid-19.
• The Board expects that the Group’s full year outlook for 2021 will be ahead of its previous expectations, despite the challenges we are expecting in H2 2021.
• Packaging Distribution achieved strong sales growth of 21.3% and growth in operating profit before amortisation and impairment of 71.4% versus H1 2020.
• Manufacturing Operations saw an encouraging recovery in both sales and operating profit before amortisation and impairment.
• The acquisitions of GWP Holdings Limited (“GWP”) and Carters Packaging (Cornwall) Limited (“Carters”) in H1 2021 have contributed £8.1m of sales and £1.9m of operating profit before amortisation and impairment versus 2020.
• Profit before tax is stated after charging amortisation of customer relationships and brand values of £1.6m (H1 2020: £1.3m), goodwill impairment of £1.0m and finance costs of £0.7m (H1 2020: £0.7m).
• Net cash inflow from operating activities of £11.3m reflects increased activity and continuing good management of working capital (H1 2020: £16.6m).
• Net bank debt at 30 June 2021 was £8.7m, an increase of £8.1m from 31 December 2020 following £12.2m of investment in the acquisition of GWP and Carters. The Group is operating well within its existing bank facility of £30.0m which runs until 31 December 2025.
• The pension scheme was in surplus at 30 June 2021 compared to a deficit at 31 December 2020 of £1.5m. The improvement is due to continued contributions from Macfarlane Group and an increase in the discount rate, offset by lower investment returns during the period.
• Basic earnings per share are up 114.0% to 3.83p per share (H1 2020: 1.79p per share).
• Interim dividend increased by 24.3% to 0.87p per share (H1 2020: 0.70p per share).
