McBride hit by lower demand

SHAMPOO to household cleaning products manufacturer McBride says it expects to take a £2m hit on trading profit in the first half as a result of reducing contract manufacturing.

The group, which has one of its largest production sites in Middleton, said in a trading update the wind-down in contract manufacturing had also led to a 7% fall in revenues in the first half.

It said: “The rate at which the contract manufacturing business declined has been faster than anticipated due to weaker consumer demand for the relevant branded products.”

“We therefore expect trading profit in the first half to be impacted by around £2m, primarily as a consequence of this wind down in contract manufacturing. Accordingly we expect that the Group’s full year performance could be impacted by that amount for the same reason.”

Chief executive Chris Bull said: “As we indicated at the full year, our financial performance this year will be second-half weighted as some contract manufacturing business is wound down, allowing us to grow our private label business in the second half and beyond.

“Although our contract manufacturing business has declined more rapidly than expected in the first half, I remain very encouraged by the progress being made by the business overall.”