MACFARLANE GROUP PLC
(“MACFARLANE GROUP”, “THE COMPANY”, “THE GROUP”)
ANNUAL RESULTS 2022
Results ahead of market expectations and 2021
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
| 2022
£000 |
2021
£000 |
Increase
% |
|
| £000 | £000 | % | |
| Continuing operations | |||
| Revenue | 290,431 | 264,465 | 10% |
| Operating profit before amortisation | 25,073 | 23,366 | 7% |
| Operating profit | 21,496 | 20,055 | 7% |
| Profit before tax | 19,934 | 18,665 | 7% |
| Continuing and discontinued operations | |||
| Profit for the year | 15,637 | 12,598 | 24% |
| Interim and proposed Final dividend (pence) | 3.42p | 3.20p | 7% |
| Basic earnings per share (pence) | 9.89p | 7.98p | 24% |
- Revenue from continuing operations grew by 10% versus 2021 to £290.4m.
- Profit before tax from continuing operations at £19.9m increased by 7% which is reflected in the increase in dividend.
- Basic and diluted earnings per share were 9.89p per share (2021: 7.98p per share) and 9.78p per share (2021: 7.90p per share) respectively.
Packaging Distribution
- Packaging Distribution achieved revenue growth of 8% to £259.7m (2021: £239.5m) through the recovery of input prices and the benefits from the acquisitions of Carters Packaging in March 2021 and PackMann in May 2022 which offset reduced demand from e-commerce customers.
- In line with our strategy to support our customers by increasing our geographic coverage we acquired PackMann in Germany in May 2022. PackMann revenues are in line with our expectations, but operating profit has been impacted by higher input costs.
- Gross margins are stable at 32.1% (2021: 32.4%) reflecting effective recovery of input price inflation.
- Operating profit before amortisation only increased by 1% to £19.9m (2021: £19.7m) due to cost increases. The key areas where costs have increased were start-up costs related to the new North-West of England distribution centre, strategic IT investments and inflationary pressures primarily in labour, energy and logistics costs.
Manufacturing Operations
- Manufacturing Operations delivered an excellent performance in 2022 with revenues growing by 23% to £30.8m (2021: £25.0m) and operating profit before amortisation increasing 42% to £5.2m (2021: £3.7m). GWP, acquired in February 2021, continued to perform well. The Macfarlane Design and Manufacture business benefited from recovery in the aerospace sector and the strengthening of its partnership with Packaging Distribution.
- The Group sold its Labels business in December 2021 and this has been classified as a discontinued operation. Labels recorded a loss before tax of £0.1m in 2022 (2021: Loss £0.9m) related to finalisation of completion accounts.
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
Group
- Net cash inflow from operating activities of £18.0m (2021: £23.8m) reflects the timing of payments at the year end to suppliers and higher 2021 employee incentive payments paid in 2022.
- Net bank debt on 31 December 2022 was £3.4m, a net cash outflow of £5.9m from 31 December 2021, including £8.7m of investment in acquisitions and a higher level of capital expenditure of £3.3m related primarily to the fit-out of the new distribution centre in the North-West of England (£1.3m). The Group is operating well within its existing bank facility of £30.0m and relevant covenants which runs until 31 December 2025.
- The Pension Scheme surplus increased to £10.2m at 31 December 2022 (31 December 2021: £8.3m). This improvement is due to continued contributions from the Group and an increase in the discount rate offset by a decline in the value of investments during the year. This is against the backdrop of considerable volatility in the markets, in particular government gilt yields.
- The Board is proposing a final dividend of 2.52p per share (2021: 2.33p per share) which would take the total dividend for 2022 to 3.42p per share (2021: 3.20p per share) up 7% on 2021.
- See notes to the financial information below for reconciliation of Alternative Performance Measure operating profit before amortisation to operating profit.
- In accordance with IFRS5, the 2021 and 2022 results of the Labels business, sold on 31 December 2021, have been stated as a discontinued operation. The loss for the year from the discontinued operation was £0.1m (2021: £1.1m).
CHAIR’S STATEMENT
In my first statement as Chair of Macfarlane Group, I am pleased to report that the Group results for the year ended 31 December 2022 were ahead of both the previous year and market expectations.
Trading
Our performance in 2022 was achieved against a background of a marked slowdown in spend from the e-commerce sector, following strong growth during the 2021 Covid-19 lockdown periods, and inflationary pressures on operating costs.
Our Packaging Distribution business achieved revenue growth of 8% through the benefit of acquisitions, good progress from our “Follow the Customer” strategy in Europe and the recovery of raw material price inflation. Profitability was only slightly higher than 2021 due to the start-up costs for our new distribution centre in the North-West of England, strategic investments in our IT capability and inflationary increases in operating costs.
Our Manufacturing Operations have had an excellent year, with strong growth in sales and operating profit. We benefited from the 2021 acquisition of GWP, demand recovery in certain industrial markets and the partnership with our Packaging Distribution business continued to strengthen.
We were able to fund £11.9m (2021: £14.4m) of acquisition and capital investment activity through our existing bank facilities due to the continued strong operating cash flows and reinvesting the proceeds from the sale of our Labels business in December 2021.
The pension scheme remains in surplus, with the Directors working in close co-operation with the trustees and their advisers to manage investments successfully through volatility in the markets in the second half of 2022.
The dedication and commitment of all our colleagues has been critical to our success and I thank them for all their hard work in 2022.
Environment, Social and Governance (“ESG”)
The Group has made good progress in 2022 on its ESG commitments. We have commenced the programme to electrify our fleet of delivery vehicles, continued to introduce solar panels at our sites, worked with our customers to move to more sustainable plastic products and invested in an additional Innovation Lab to help our customers reduce their carbon footprint. The Board is now more diverse and we have increased our level of engagement with the local communities in which we operate.
CHAIR’S STATEMENT
Board Changes
As set out in the Interim Report 2022, Stuart Paterson stood down as Chair at the end of September 2022 and the Board would like to thank Stuart for his valuable contribution as Chair and prior to that as a Non-Executive Director.
On 1 October 2022, Laura Whyte was appointed to the Board as an independent Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Remuneration Committee. Laura brings extensive commercial and human resources experience to the Board.
Proposed Dividend
The Board is proposing a final dividend of 2.52 pence per share, amounting to a full year dividend of 3.42 pence per share (2021: 3.20 pence per share), an increase of 7%. Subject to the approval of shareholders at the Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 9 May 2023 the final dividend will be paid on Thursday 1 June 2023 to those shareholders on the register at Friday 12 May 2023.
Outlook
We anticipate that 2023 will be another challenging year with uncertainty over the impact of the increase in the cost of living on customer demand, rising operating costs, particularly related to labour and energy, and increasing interest costs. Despite these challenges, with the effectiveness of our strategy, the resilience of our business model and the experience and commitment of our people, we expect Macfarlane Group to continue to deliver further growth in 2023.
“Follow the Customer” is the Group’s strategy to provide UK customers with access to its products and services in mainland Europe.