Bunzl scraps dividend, pulls guidance due to virus outbreak
Distribution and services group Bunzl said on Thursday that it is scrapping its dividend and withdrawing its 2020 guidance due to the coronavirus outbreak.
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The company, which has increasingly been designated a critical supplier by governments around the world, said it was pulling its previous guidance for the year to December 2020 "given the unprecedented uncertainly around the impact of Covid-19".
In addition, the group will no longer propose a final dividend for the year ended 31 December 2019 at the annual meeting later in the month. It will reconsider the payment once it has a clearer view of the pandemic’s impact on the business.
The company also announced that its board, executive committee and business area managing directors are taking a 20% reduction in fees/base salary in the second quarter "to help support the business". Also, all discretionary spend has been stopped.
As far as trading is concerned, Bunzl said its "resilient" business model had delivered a strong performance in the first quarter ended 28 March. Revenue increased about 4.5% at actual exchange rates, it said.
At constant exchange rates and adjusted for the impact of the number of trading days in the quarter relative to the prior year, revenue was up 6%, with acquisitions contributing 3% of growth.
Underlying revenue growth in Continental Europe was strong, while North America saw some growth despite the impact of the previously announced price and product specification changes with a large grocery customer, it said. Revenue growth in the rest of the world was particularly strong thanks to growth in its safety businesses in Latin America, while the UK & Ireland saw a slight decline in revenue due to further weakness in the hospitality sector.
Chief executive officer Frank van Zanten said: "Bunzl is a strong, resilient and well diversified business offering many critical and essential services to customers. While we had a strong first quarter, the ongoing uncertainty and headwinds presented by the Covid-19 outbreak mean we have a significantly more challenging near-term trading outlook.
"However, we are taking appropriate actions on cost and cashflow and Bunzl remains a financially strong business with both a robust liquidity position and a capital structure that are well-placed to absorb an extended period of uncertainty."