8th Jun 2006 07:02
McBride PLC08 June 2006 8 June 2006 McBride plc CONTINENTAL EUROPEAN DIVISION RE-STRUCTURING McBride plc, ("McBride") is Europe's leading supplier of Private Label Householdand Personal Care products. Last September McBride announced that it was undertaking a comprehensivebusiness and strategic review, the conclusions of which were announced inFebruary, namely initiatives to enhance customer service levels, reduce the costbase, improve internal organisation structures and widen its market coverage. In February it was reported that levels of customer service in ContinentalEurope had improved strongly during the first half of the year; since thencustomer service has been held at consistently high levels. A programme of cost reduction initiatives has been commenced to further improvethe Group's operating efficiency and cost base. In the Continental Europeandivision, covering operations in France, Belgium, Holland, Italy and Spain, arestructuring exercise and a review of factory efficiency have yielded areduction of over 10% in headcount since June 2005, while current productionvolumes are broadly similar to a year ago. The programme of actions will resultin an exceptional charge to operating profit of up to £3.8m for the currentfinancial year ending 30th June 2006. The organisation structure in Continental Europe has been changed to improvecustomer focus and accountability for performance. The division is re-organisedinto four business units, each of which has full accountability for developmentof its markets and delivery of profits. Commenting on the progress to date McBride's Chief Executive Miles Roberts said: "McBride is totally committed to the development of Private Label personal careand household products. The initiatives that we have announced today, includingthe re-organisation of the Continental European Division, will improve theGroup's responsiveness to customer needs, significantly mitigate the impact ofincreasing raw material costs and ensure that we continue to provide the bestvalue to our customers." For further information please contact McBride plc Miles Roberts, Chief Executive 01494 607050Bob Beveridge, Finance Director 01494 607050 Financial Dynamics Andrew Dowler 02078313113 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Mcbride