LONDON (Alliance News) - Personal care and beauty products maker Creightons PLC Tuesday said that sales in the third quarter of its financial year were below the level of a year earlier, but sales for the whole of the financial year remain well above those for the same period of last year.
In a statement, the company said sales fell in the quarter to end-December due to last year's new product launch programme and stock building by several major customers. It said that this year, sales have been more evenly spread over the year, and cumulative sales for the financial year so far remain well up on last year.
Creightons said its financial position has also continued to improve and retained earnings have increased since the end of September as a result of profits achieved in sales in the third quarter.
Back in November, the company had reported a jump in profits and revenues for the first half of its fiscal year, buoyed by private label range launches. However, it had cautioned at that time that some of the revenue lift from the launches won't be repeated in the second half of the year.
It had also cautioned that the retail environment remained tough and it expected consumers to remain focused on getting value for their money in the shops.
"The company continues to take measures to minimise exposure to the economic pressures in the manufacturing and retail sectors," Creightons said in its statement Tuesday. "Discretionary spend particularly on marketing and product research remains at a minimum, although the situation is continuously under review in order to best exploit market opportunities."
Creightons said it expects to publish its results for the year to end-March by the end of June.
Creightons shares were up 5.4% at 4.48 pence Tuesday morning.
By Steve McGrath; stevemcgrath@alliancenews.com; @stevemcgrath1
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Creightons (CRL)