(Alliance News) - Macfarlane Group PLC on Thursday said it expects full-year results to exceed expectations after profit and revenue jumped in the first half.
Shares in Macfarlane were trading up 14% at 136.00 pence each in London on Thursday.
The Glasgow-based packaging company reported revenue of GBP133.5 million in the six months ended June 30, up 27% from GBP105.5 million last year. Revenue remained 24% higher than the GBP107.5 million noted in the first half of 2019, prior to the pandemic.
Pretax profit doubled to GBP7.8 million in the first half from GBP3.5 million a year earlier and GBP3.8 million two years earlier.
Basic earnings per share hit 3.83p, the company noted, up sharply from 1.79p in the first half of 2020 and 1.99p in the same stretch of 2019.
Chair Stuart Paterson said the company: "Achieved good sales growth in the first half of 2021, benefiting from the ongoing structural shift to e-commerce retail and recovery in certain industrial sectors which were affected by Covid-19 in the first six months of 2020."
Additionally, the company said its acquisitions of GWP Holdings Ltd and and Carters Packaging (Cornwall) Ltd during the first half added sales worth GBP8.1 million and GBP1.9 million in operating profit before amortisation and impairment compared to 2020.
After a strong first half, Macfarlane raised its interim dividend by 24% to 0.87p, from 0.70p the previous year and 0.69p in 2019.
The company raised its expectations for the full-year, despite noting some challenges for the second half.
Paterson said that in the first half the company had produced a strong profit performance: "Despite ongoing difficult operating conditions due to Covid-19, significant inflationary pressure on input costs and supply shortages of some materials."
"The group has previously demonstrated effective management of these challenges and, as a result of this and the performance in first half, the board expects the group will exceed its previous expectations for the full year," the company added
By Scarlett Butler; scarlettbutler@alliancenews.com
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Macfarlane Grp. (MACF)