COPENHAGEN: Its results showed that profit before tax was up 32% to £146m while revenue was up 7% to £2.3bn. The company’s adjusted operating profit was up 9% to £226m.
In the six months to 31 October, DS Smith also reported an expanding European point of sale and display capability with new acquisitions in the UK and Denmark. The company has also completed a deal to buy Gopaca, a Portuguese corrugated packaging firm. DS Smith has also proposed the acquisition of US bag-in-box plastics business Parish Manufacturing.
Miles Roberts, DS Smith chief executive, said: “This half year has been another period of consistent delivery across the whole business. Volumes have grown as our high quality, innovative service has continued to delight our customers, particularly those who require a pan-European approach. This, combined with strong results from businesses acquired last year, the benefit of our global procurement platform, and the continued roll-out of performance packaging, has resulted in another period where we have delivered against all our financial KPIs.
“The business has continued to demonstrate momentum and has performed well despite the challenging market, which is a demonstration of the strength of our business model. Accordingly, the board remains confident about the outlook for the business and has increased the dividend by 15%.”
Connor Campbell, a financial analyst from Spreadex, said it was good news for DS Smith investors, with the packaging company producing a 60% increase in half year pre-tax profit.
