Profits up £1.1m for consumer goods brand Ultimate Products

Simon Showman, CEO , left and MD Andrew Gossage

Consumer goods brand Ultimate Products has repaid government furlough cash following strong half year trading thanks to more people working from home and cooking at home too.

The Oldham-headquartered company reported 11.4 per cent increase in revenues to £75.4m for the six months t0 31 January 2021.

That was up £7.7m from £67.7 m for the same period in the previous year.

International revenues were up 0.5% or £100,000 to £23.6mrepresenting 31.1% of group revenues with Germany performing particularly well.

Pre-tax profits grew 18.9% (or £1.1 m) to £7.2m, up from £6m in the previous year.

During the period, UP repaid all funds received under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, in addition to bringing up to date all payments which had been deferred under the government’s VAT deferral and Time to Pay initiatives.

It also acquired Petra, the Germany electrical kitchen brand, post period end in February 2021 and has restarted the planned investment in Manor Mill head office, having previously deferred the project as part of COVID-19 mitigation.

The refurbishment will provide additional capacity for future growth, and is expected to be largely completed during H2 FY 21.

Simon Showman, CEO of Ultimate Products, said: “We are pleased to have delivered another good performance during the first half of the year, and today’s results illustrate yet again the resilience and adaptability of our business.

“As ever, I would like to thank all of our colleagues for their outstanding dedication, as well as for their efforts in helping Ultimate Products to provide much needed support to the local communities in which it operates.”

He added: “Since the pandemic began, a number of trends have emerged that clearly play to Ultimate Products’ strengths, and which we believe are here to stay.

“The increase in home working and home cooking, the emphasis on cleaning and hygiene products, and a more considered approach to spending are all positive developments for us, given our strong portfolio of value-led brands for the home.

“In addition, the switch to online shopping is driving outstanding growth in our online segment, which in only a relatively short period of time has gone from a start-up to being a substantial contributor to our revenue and a key driver of our growth.” 

The group announced an interim dividend of 1.69 p per share, up 45.7 % (H1 FY 20: 1.16 p), payable on 30 July 2021.

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