Manufacturer launches share buy-back scheme

Manufacturer McBride is to begin a £12m share buy-back programme with its share price stubbornly remaining 75% below its peak less than two years ago.

The Manchester-based group mainly makes own-brand household goods for cleaning and personal care, supplying 250 customers in 70 countries.

Chris Smith, chief executive of McBride, said: “We believe that McBride’s current share price does not reflect the value of the underlying business.

“We have resilient revenues, a strong balance sheet and highly visible cash flows. We therefore think it is in the interests of all shareholders to commence this programme.”

McBride’s share price has been in the doldrums for more than a year, as it struggled to rebound after a downward trend lasting 20 months.

It began 2018 trading at 230p but had fallen below 50p by September 2019. It partially rebounded through last autumn but had lost those gains well before the impact of coronavirus. Its shares have spent most of the last four months in the 60-65p range and closed on Friday at 61p, valuing the company at £110m.

McBride generated pre-tax profits of £11m in the year to June from revenues of £706m.

It has recently launched its Compass strategy which has the target of growing annual revenues to €1bn (£900m) over the next five years.