Creightons FY10 Profit -20%, Sees Sales At Depressed Levels

25th Jun 2010 08:08

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Creightons PLC (CRL.LN), a parent company of a group involved in creating personal care and beauty products, reported Friday a 20% decline in pretax profit for fiscal 2010 and said it expects sales to continue to see sales at depressed levels for the foreseeable future and increased pressure on margins. MAIN FACTS: -Revenue for the year ended March 31 GBP13.6 million (2009: GBP15.2 million). -Pretax profit GBP303,000 (2009: GBP378,000). -Diluted EPS 0.51 pence (2009: 0.63 pence). -Gross margin 42.3% (2009: 40.7%). -Cash and cash equivalents at end of the year GBP49,000 (2009: GBP194,000). -Company doesn't consider to declare a dividend at the moment and instead will use the funds generated to manage future working capital requirements. -Anticipates levels of Christmas gift business to continue to decrease as customers increasingly source direct from the Far East. -Expects its private label customers to continue to adopt value strategies with sales opportunities in lower priced products offsetting lower sales levels on higher priced products; This is likely to adversely affect company's turnover and margins in the current year. -Continues to seek opportunities to acquire brands or companies. -Shares at 0704 GMT unchanged at 1.75 pence, valuing the company at GBP1 million. -By Tapan Panchal, Dow Jones Newswires. Tel +44(0)207-842 9448, [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 25, 2010 03:08 ET (07:08 GMT)