Full Year 2021 Results & Q1 trading update
PZ Cussons today announced its Full Year results for the financial year 2021, which ended in May, and a trading update on the first quarter of the current financial year.
The Company has delivered a solid financial performance, returning to top and bottom-line growth for the first time in seven years, together with moving Africa back into profitability and maintaining strong balance sheet discipline.
For 2021, organic revenue grew +7.1%, with all geographic regions and our core categories of Hygiene, Baby and Beauty all in growth. Importantly, our Must Win Brands revenue grew +11%, with seven of the eight brands in growth. Our Portfolio Brands also increased revenue +3%, driven by growth in Electricals in Nigeria. Adjusted profit before tax was increase by 11%, driven by the broad-based revenue growth.
The Company also announced a final dividend of 3.42p, making a total of 6.09p for the full year, a 5% increase and reflective of the Board’s confidence in the Group’s financial resilience and future growth prospects.
For the first quarter of the new financial year, as expected, unprecedented demand for our Hygiene brands at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic impacted year-on-year revenue comparisons. The total business performance improved as the quarter progressed and we returned to growth in August.
With well-publicised input cost pressures to manage, we have successfully executed price increases across our brand portfolios in Nigeria and Indonesia. In our developed markets, in addition to more targeted price increases, our Revenue Growth Management focus has been to drive brand equity improvements and efficient levels of price promotion to enable further price / mix improvements.
Overall, PZ Cussons has made good progress executing its new strategy – Building Brands for Life. Today and For Future Generations. We have focused significantly-increased investment behind our core Must Win Brands in our Top 4 Priority Markets and refined our portfolio further with the sale of our non-core Five:am yoghurt business in Australia following the earlier divestiture of the Nutricima milk business in Nigeria.
Jonathan Myers, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“The medium-term outlook remains in line with our expectations and we have confidence that our brand and market portfolio will emerge strongly once we cycle through the unprecedented demand for hygiene products at the start of the pandemic.
We continue to navigate the well-publicised inflationary pressures on commodities and freight. We have a co-ordinated effort underway to reduce product, manufacturing and logistics costs that the consumer does not value while also accelerating our Revenue Growth Management plans to drive price / mix. Combined with sustained and more effective marketing investment, stronger brand plans and new product innovation, these interventions mean that, assuming no further disruptions, we expect to return to growth for Q2 and to deliver low to mid single-digit revenue growth for the year, in line with our strategic financial framework we outlined at the Capital Markets Day in March. Despite the significant inflationary pressure on our cost base, assuming no further cost headwinds or global supply or other Covid-related disruption, we expect to deliver FY22 adjusted profit before tax within the current range of expectations.”
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