From Russia with love – SSL sales soar 22%

SSL International, the company behind consumer brands Scholl and Durex, has said its full year sales will be up 22% on last year, thanks to acquisitions made in Russia and Ukraine.

The group, which has its European headquarters at Trafford Park, said sales will hit around £795m for the year to the end of March – a 22% increase on the previous year.

It said the strong growth was thanks to its acquisition of Russian company BLBV in June. The group paid £63m to increase its holding in the company from 15% to 50%.

In February 2010, SSL increased its stake to 75% for “no more than £140m” from cash and existing facilities. It also has an option to acquire the rest of the business next year from minority shareholder Abraca.

It also bought Gainbridge Investments (Cyprus), a distributor of the Contex condom brand across Ukraine, for £18.8m in October.

“Both acquisitions continue to perform well and sales consolidated in this year are expected to be in the region of £120m,” SSL said in its trading statement.

Without the acquisitions, SSL’s branded consumer sales would have shown 4% growth and stood at £630m.

SSL said sales of Durex branded condoms were particularly notable in China, Poland and Germany.

Meanwhile, its Scholl footcare brand saw good growth in Japan, France and Germany, although it added that this was tempered by pharmacy destocking in Italy.

The Scholl footwear brand was driven by solid growth in France and Thailand it said, while owned brand sales fell slightly due to trade activity in Italy.

Sales of low margin goods such as distributor brands, unbranded condoms and contract manufacture fell 25% to £45m.

Garry Watts, chief executive, said: “The performance this year has been encouraging despite the challenging economic environment in the UK and Italy. Our core branded business continues to show good like for like growth with strengthening positions in both developed and emerging markets.

“Our geographic footprint has been significantly expanded by our acquisitions of the Russian and Ukrainian businesses. Good sales growth and an ongoing focus on cost control enable us both to invest in the business and expand margins. Our balance sheet remains strong and we continue to be confident in our 50% EPS growth target over the three years to March 2012.”