Accrol celebrates maiden year as a listed firm
Accrol Group, the AIM-listed tissue maker, has enjoyed a successful maiden full year as a publicly listed company, with turnover and profits up and considerable ongoing investment.
Blackburn-based Accrol, an independent manufacturer of branded and private label tissue products with ranges including toilet, kitchen and facial tissues, saw revenue increase 14.2% to £135.1m for the twelve months ended 30 April 2017 (2016: £118.2m).
Gross profit increased 9.3% to £37.7m (2016: £34.5m), while adjusted EBITDA increased 6.8% to £16.1m (2016: £15m).
The company said it saw continued strong cash generation in a period which included a £3.6m repayment of loan note interest and overall net debt was reduced by £41.7m to £19m.
In what chief executive Steve Crossley called “a year of positive change”, new contract wins saw the company’s market share of the discount sector grew to over 50%.
Crossley said: “We continue to build a platform for future growth, having made a significant investment in our new manufacturing facility at Leyland to create extra capacity. A new finished goods warehouse in Skelmersdale, announced in May 2017, will provide central storage and distribution facilities for our customers, improving our supply chain efficiency and enabling us to build on our market position.
“Increasing input costs, driven by exchange rates, are impacting most product categories in UK retail and like all UK manufacturers, we continue to seek inflation recovery. There are positive signs, with some retailers increasing consumer price points, although it is slower than we expected. We believe that as price increases come through fully in the market, this will continue to drive shoppers to seek good value in the discount and multiple own-label sectors.’’
The company is proposing a final dividend of 4p a share, giving a total of 6p for the full year.
