McBride H1 profit slides as material costs bite

8th Feb 2011 07:19

McBride, maker of own label products for retailers, met forecasts with a 29.6% drop in first half profit as it battles with rising raw materials prices and a difficult retail environment, particularly in the UK.The group, which supplies supermarkets such as France's Carrefour and Tesco, said revenue for the six months ended 31 December 2010 fell 1% at £407.9m from £412.4m a year earlier. Pre-tax profit fell to £15.5m from £22.5m.McBride also warned that raw material costs could increase by around £7m in the second half as the most recent market commodity price increases feed into its material costs.Chief executive Chris Bull commented, "We have delivered good results in a challenging environment of increasing raw material costs in all geographies, and weak retail markets particularly in the UK."McBride saw growth in Central and Eastern Europe, and its recent acquisitions in Czech Republic and Malaysia have performed in line with expectations, it said. The group's restructuring programmes, announced in 2010, are also delivering in line with plan, McBride said in a company statement.The interim dividend remains unchanged at 2p.