20th Aug 2014 07:52
LONDON (Alliance News) - Packaging firm Robinson PLC Wednesday posted a drop in pretax profit in the first half, as a positive first quarter was offset by a weak second quarter as the company's grocery and major brand sales came under pressure from discounters and it was hit by costs related to an acquisition.
The company raised its interim dividend by 12%, but this wasn't enough to prevent its shares dropping 11.3% to 199.5 pence in early trade, putting it among the top five biggest fallers on the London market.
The firm said pretax profit for the six months to June 30 was GBP0.3 million, down from GBP2.2 million a year earlier.
Revenue was flat at GBP10.9 million, as a weak second quarter offset an 8% rise in sales in the first quarter, while costs rose, partly due to a GBP0.4 million exceptional cost related to the acquisition of Polish plastics manufacturer MADROX Spolka Jawna. The deal was subject to delays due to the court approval process in Poland.
Excluding one-off items, its underlying operating profit was "broadly comparable" with the previous year, it said.
In a statement, the firm said the acquisition of MADROX marks a "significant step change" in the size of the business and, as a result, hiked its interim dividend by 12% to 2.25 pence, from 2.0 pence last year.
The firm also posted a GBP0.2 million decline in property rental income in the period following the sale of its Portland property to Sonoco.
Robinson said the second half of the year was showing some signs of improvement and said it expects growth in sales by the end of the year should this trend continue.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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