20th Mar 2014 11:56
LONDON (Alliance News) - Plastics business Robinson PLC Thursday reported an increase in profit and revenue for the full year, but said gross margins were squeezed by higher plastic resin costs.
The custom manufacturer of plastic and paperboard packaging posted pretax profit of GBP3.7 million for 2013, up from GBP2.8 million, as revenue crept up to GBP23.3 million from GBP21.2 million a year earlier.
Chesterfield-based Robinson said that, although revenue rose 10%, it was affected by plastic resin prices rising by an average of 6%. However, this was largely passed on to the company's customers resulting in higher reported revenue.
On the back of an improved performance Robinson increased its final dividend to 2.5 pence per share, from 2.25 pence, making a total dividend of 4.5 pence compared with 4.0 pence a year earlier.
The company said rental income fell by GBP200,000 after the sale of its Portland factory for GBP4.2 million. As a result, future rental income will reduced by GBP400,000 a year.
However, Robinson said the sale of the Portland factory left it able to fund acquisitions, and earlier this year the firm reached an agreement to acquire Polish packaging manufacturer, Madrox, based near Warsaw.
If completed as expected, the GBP13.2 million acquisition will add significantly to the firm's revenues and, once the integration costs are covered, Robinson said Madrox is expected to substantially improve its earnings and cash flow.
Robinson shares were trading at 201.25 pence Thursday, down 6.25 pence or 3.0%.
By Anthony Tshibangu; [email protected]; @AnthonyAllNews
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