Response to crisis helps put manufacturer in ‘stronger position than ever’
Toilet paper manufacturer Accrol says it is “in a stronger position than ever before”, boosted by the stockpiling by shoppers in March.
Core revenues reached record levels for the Blackburn-based group while its response to the spike in consumer demand in the early stages of the coronavirus crisis “reinforced its strengthening relationships across its UK retail customer base”.
Accrol supplies nearly all of the major UK grocery retailers with private label toilet tissue, kitchen towel and tissues.
Core sales were up 14% in the year to April, to £132.7m, while net debt has been reduced by one-third, £9m, from a year ago.
Accrol’s board said it “views the future with increasing confidence” in a trading update issued this morning and the confidence has been shared by investors in recent weeks.
Its share price has seen a V-shaped recovery since the pre-lockdown drop, when it lost 30% of its value in a week. It has more than recovered its losses and last night’s close of 42p is its highest point since November 2017.
Although Accrol expects to be impacted by some cost increases, it believes it has a “robust” business model that is “structured to enable the swift management of fluctuating prices”.
The group has been able to implement social distancing at its factory, while its office staff work from home, and it has not needed to furlough any staff.
