LONDON (Alliance News) - Creightons PLC on Wednesday reported growth in pretax profit in the first half of its financial year, boosted by revenue from new product launches and an improved gross margin.
The personal care and beauty products maker said its pretax profit in the six months ended September 30 almost doubled to GBP1.1 million from GBP589,000 in the same period the year before, as revenue rose slightly to GBP10.8 million from GBP10.7 million.
Creightons said despite an increasingly competitive marketplace and the disposal of The Real Shaving Co in May, it managed to maintain sales through new product launches with own label customers and growth of branded ranges in key retailers.
Gross margin also improved to 40.8% from 38.6% due to a reduction in product support costs and improved production efficiencies, the company said.
"We have continued to review our sales strategy in the period and have trimmed a number of brands and products considered peripheral to our core activity. We continue to see opportunities to develop our brands in overseas markets and to develop good quality products at a competitive price in the UK. We have increased resources and investments to achieve this goal," Creightons said in a statement.
"We continue to be cautious regarding the underlying level of retail sales and continue to see the trend of consumers in the UK focusing on value. This will present sales opportunities but may impact on margins," it added.
Shares in Creightons were trading down 2.1% at 7.10 pence Wednesday morning following the announcement.
By Karolina Kaminska; karolinakaminska@alliancenews.com @KarolinaAllNews
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Creightons (CRL)