25th Feb 2019 09:03
LONDON (Alliance News) - Distribution firm Bunzl PLC said Monday said its annual profit increased on acquisitions as it made a further acquisition of US based safety gloves manufacturer Liberty Glove & Safety for an undisclosed sum.
Liberty Glove & Safety is a California-based company which sells a range of personal protection equipment, primarily gloves, to US distributors. Liberty Glove & Safety recorded USD93 million in revenue for 2018.
"The purchase of Liberty Glove & Safety will further expand and develop our operations serving the safety sector in North America. The business has a number of strong own brands which will enhance our own label offering," said Bunzl Chief Executive Frank van Zanten.
In 2018, Bunzl's pretax profit totaled GBP424.8 million, up 3.8% from GBP409.3 million in 2017. Revenue was GBP9.08 billion, rising 5.8% from GBP8.58 billion in 2017 and 9% on constant exchange rate.
Bunzl said its organic growth was 4.3% at constant exchange, with the remaining 4.7% attributed to acquisitions.
In November 2017, Bunzl completed acquisitions of three companies, Hedis, Comptoir de Bretagne, and Generale Collectivites. Bunzl also acquired Australian healthcare distribution firm Interpath and agreed to acquire foodservice product seller Talge in Brazil.
Then, in January 2018, it acquired two further businesses - safety equipment designer Revco and catering equipment maker Aggora. Bunzl also bought catering equipment supplier Enor AS in August 2018.
The company will pay a final dividend of 35.0 pence per share, taking the total to 50.2p per share from 46.0p per share. This represents a 9.1% increase year-on-year.
"Acquisitions are a key part of our strategy and, with an active pipeline of opportunities and ongoing discussions taking place, we expect to complete further transactions during 2019," Bunzl said.
"The board believes that the prospects of the group are positive due to its strong market position and well established and successful strategy to grow the business both organically and by acquisition," Bunzl added.
Shares in Bunzl were down 3.4% at 2,452.00p on Monday,
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