An interim dividend of 0.87p per share, payable on 14 October 2021, was declared by Macfarlane PLC on 26 August 2021 and has therefore not been included as a liability in these condensed financial statements.
Other financial highlghts include:
Macfarlane Group grew its sales by 26.5% versus H1 2020 to £133.5m, while operating profit before amortisation and impairment at £11.1m and profit before tax at £7.8m have both more than doubled.
This also represents a 24.2% increase in sales and a doubling of profit before tax compared to the same period in 2019, prior to any impact from Covid-19.
The Board expects that the Group's full year outlook for 2021 will be ahead of its previous expectations, despite the challenges expected in H2 2021.
Packaging Distribution achieved strong sales growth of 21.3% and growth in operating profit before amortisation and impairment of 71.4% versus H1 2020.
Manufacturing Operations saw an encouraging recovery in both sales and operating profit before amortisation and impairment.
The acquisitions of GWP Holdings Limited ("GWP") and Carters Packaging (Cornwall) Limited ("Carters") in H1 2021 have contributed £8.1m of sales and £1.9m of operating profit before amortisation and impairment versus 2020.
Profit before tax is stated after charging amortisation of customer relationships and brand values of £1.6m (H1 2020: £1.3m), goodwill impairment of £1.0m and finance costs of £0.7m (H1 2020: £0.7m).
Net cash inflow from operating activities of £11.3m reflects increased activity and continuing good management of working capital (H1 2020: £16.6m).
Net bank debt at 30 June 2021 was £8.7m, an increase of £8.1m from 31 December 2020 following £12.2m of investment in the acquisition of GWP and Carters. The Group is operating well within its existing bank facility of £30.0m which runs until 31 December 2025.
The pension scheme was in surplus at 30 June 2021 compared to a deficit at 31 December 2020 of £1.5m. The improvement is due to continued contributions from Macfarlane Group and an increase in the discount rate, offset by lower investment returns during the period.
Basic earnings per share are up 114.0% to 3.83p per share (H1 2020: 1.79p per share).
