(Alliance News) - Mpac Group PLC on Thursday reported an interim profit as revenue grew on the back of demand.
The Tadcaster, England-based packaging and automation company said it swung to a pretax profit of GBP200,000 in the six months to June 30, from a loss of GBP400,000 a year prior. Revenue grew 4.3% to USD52.8 million from GBP50.6 million.
"Original equipment order intake increased by 131% to GBP46.0 million from GBP19.9 million. Our customers in the healthcare and food & beverages markets continue to demonstrate resilient performance despite rising interest rates, fuelling demand for Mpac's products," the company said.
It added: "Growth in Europe, Middle East & Africa was primarily due to a stronger performance across our traditional markets in healthcare and food & beverage, supported by the continuing development of the customer qualification battery cell assembly line for FREYR."
The company in September 2022 signed a partnership with Norwegian emerging battery specialist Freyr AS. Mpac has the exclusive supply of the casting and unit cell assembly equipment for the battery cell production line in Freyr's Giga Arctic factory in Norway. Freyr is a developer of clean, next-generation battery capacity.
Looking ahead, Mpac said it is trading in line with its own expectations, with full-year outlook being unchanged. "Margins are normalising as anticipated and with a strong order book and prospects pipeline, Mpac is well positioned to deliver on the previously announced H2 weighting to the financial year despite the challenging trading environment," Chief Executive Adam Holland said.
The company added that it continued to evaluate potential acquisition opportunities that would enhance its global presence in packaging solutions serving the healthcare, food & beverage markets.
Mpac shares fell 11% to 187.59 pence each on Thursday afternoon in London.
By Tom Budszus, Alliance News reporter
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Mpac Group Plc (MPAC)