25th Sep 2018 11:57
LONDON (Alliance News) - Consumer personal care goods maker Swallowfield PLC hiked its dividend by a fifth on Tuesday after annual profit jumped on lower costs despite revenue remaining broadly flat.
For the year ended June, pretax profit jumped 45% to GBP4.5 million from GBP3.1 million the year prior. This was despite revenue dipping marginally to GBP73.9 million from GBP74.3 million the year before.
Profit was helped by a fall in commercial & administrative costs to GBP8.7 million from GBP10.2 million the year prior.
Swallowfield proposed a 4.2 pence per share final dividend, up 20% from 3.5p per share the year prior. For the full year, the dividend rose 19% to 6.2p from 5.2p the year before.
"Swallowfield has delivered another year of continued progress against our strategic objectives with underlying profitability and earnings per share performing strongly", Chairman Brendan Hynes said. "We continue to strengthen the fundamental capabilities of our business to deliver the innovation, quality and service demanded by our customers. This combined with the strong progress made on our owned brands, gives us confidence that our strategy is delivering a more diversified and sustainable business and we remain well positioned for the future."
The own brands business saw revenues grow by 15%. In total, own brands now contribute 28% of total revenue at the firm.
Newly-appointed Chief Executive Officer Tim Perman added: "Since taking over the role of CEO in July, I have been impressed by the demonstrated success of the group's stated strategy leading to a securing of underlying profitability. Looking ahead, I see a continuing emphasis on developing the owned brands portfolio, supported by a more profitable performance from the manufacturing business."
Shares in Swallowfield were 10% lower at 277.51 pence on Tuesday.