17th Jul 2020 08:06
(Alliance News) - DCC PLC on Friday said its first-quarter showed resilience and was ahead of the group's expectations, despite being behind to the prior year due to severe lockdown restrictions.
The FTSE 100 company operates four units, DCC Healthcare, DCC Technology, the liquefied petroleum gas unit, or DCC LPG, and DCC Retail & Oil, focused on sales and marketing of fuels and heating oils.
DCC LPG's operating profit in the first quarter, ending June 30, was behind last year's due to weakness in commercial and industrial volumes, particularly in the UK and Ireland.
DCC Retail & Oil performed well in the quarter, driven by UK and Danish businesses, despite also being behind last year's fourth quarter. The good performances were owed to strong demand from agricultural customers and very strong demand in the domestic sector.
DCC Retail & Oil's operating profit was ahead of prior year, albeit modestly, owed to good cost performance.
DCC Technology's operating profit in the quarter was behind last year's despite trading showing a steady increase throughout the quarter. B2B demand brought the company's operating profit down while the business benefited from good underlying demand for consumer technology products in the e-tail and non-traditional retail channels, DCC said.
DCC Healthcare showed the best performance with operating profit well ahead of the prior year with DCC Vital seeing a big demand for Covid-19 related products.
The sales, marketing and support services group's diverse business model showed resilience and demonstrated a strong balance sheet despite the pandemic's impact, the company said.
Chief Executive Donal Murphy said: "Although a seasonally quieter period for the group, I have been pleased with the performance of each of DCC's divisions during the quarter.
"The trading performance of the group has been very resilient, considering the significant challenges presented by the necessary restrictions. The improving performance through the quarter has meant we have recommenced selective organic development capital expenditure to ensure we are in a position to capture any opportunity for market share gains during this period."
The stock was up 0.5% at 7,100.00 pence in early trade on Friday.
By Greg Roxburgh; [email protected]
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