THE WHAT? PZ Cussons has reported preliminary 2022 results, with pre-tax profit falling 8.7 per cent to £65.3m, with sales were dropping 1.7 per cent to £592.8m. However, strong price hikes helped drive like-for-like sales growth of 7.1 percent. 

THE DETAILS The company reported Adjusted Profit before tax of £66.6 million, ahead of consensus expectations, with pricing and productivity initiatives largely offsetting cost inflation of £40 million.

Child’s Farm, acquired in March 2022, is said to be progressing well.  

THE WHY? Jonathan Myers, Chief Executive Officer, said: “PZ Cussons has delivered a resilient performance over the past year, against the backdrop of challenging conditions in our markets. 

“We have achieved this through our strategy to invest in our brands, focusing on the core categories of Hygiene, Baby and Beauty, while significantly raising the bar on the way we operate. We are reporting a second year of strategic progress, with revenue and operating profit both higher than two years ago. We have made good progress in addressing the legacy issues in our business and are now moving from Turnaround to Transformation. 

“While there is plenty more to do and the external environment remains challenging, we have made a good start to the current financial year and continue to see significant long term opportunities ahead as we build towards a higher growth, higher margin, simpler and more sustainable business.”