PZ Cussons cleans up in third quarter

PZ Cussons reported a 5% jump in quarterly revenues on Monday, fuelled by strong demand for core hygiene brands such as Carex and Morning Fresh.

Updating on third-quarter trading, the FTSE 250 firm said revenues in the three months to 27 February had grown 4.7%, to £145.3m, with all regions reporting year-on-year rises in both sales and profits.

Its core Must Win brands underpinned the group performance, after sales rose 12%. “Carex in the UK and Morning Fresh in Australia and Nigeria performed strongly, with both brands continuing to meet the evolving hygiene needs of our customers,” PZ Cussons noted.

Looking to the current quarter, the firm - which also owns Sanctuary Spa, Imperial Leather, Original Source and St Tropez - said it remained on track to meet market expectations for the full-year.

Jonathan Myers, chief executive, said: “In the final quarter of this current financial year, we intend to continue increasing investment behind building our brands and capabilities to maintain momentum as we move to more normal comparatives.

“We will continue to proactively navigate the volatility of the pandemic, the competitive landscape and commodity cost headwinds, but at the same time remain focused on executing the initial phase of our new strategy.”

Shore Capital, which has a ‘hold’ recommendation on the stock, called the trading update “encouraging”.

It added: “PZ Cussons is a business with a strong stable of brands across its markets – UK, Australia, Indonesia and Nigeria – that is engaged in a turnaround after an extended period of under-investment.

“Early progress has been very strong, in the main aided by Covid tailwinds, although we expect headline sales figures to come under pressure through the fourth quarter and first quarter of the 2022 full year, as the group facings trading icebergs presented by the initial Covid-driven lockdowns in Spring 2021.”

As at 1100 GMT, shares in PZ Cussons were flat at 268.7p.