LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Consumer goods giant PZ Cussons said first quarter like-for-like sales rose 6.7% on the back of higher prices as it also reported a fall in annual profits due to lower revenues and brand impairment.
The maker of Imperial Leather soap said pre-tax profit fell 8.7% to £65.3m as revenue fell 1.7% to £592.8m.

Cussons said revenues in the three months to September 3 had risen to £162.7m with performance driven by Africa and APAC, with particularly strong growth in Morning Fresh in Australia and Premier in Nigeria.

Cost inflation hit record levels with raw material prices and freight costs surging, which in turn led to an 11% increase in the cost of sales compared to the prior year - or an extra £40m.

However, the group said it was able to offset price rises by pushing through price changes and cost initiatives throughout the year.

In Europe and Americas, Sanctuary Spa and Original Source grew strongly, but this was more than offset by the decline in the hand hygiene category impacting Carex, while St. Tropez also declined as a result of "very challenging comparatives", the company said on Thursday.

Baby care product maker Childs Farm, which Cussons bought last March, was "progressing well", with a number of operational improvements already made.

"Notwithstanding the significant challenges related to cost inflation and consumer spending, which will remain uncertain over the coming months, we expect to deliver FY23 results in line with current consensus estimates," it added.

"Along with the wider consumer goods industry, we have experienced a number of challenges, with supply chains still fragile from Covid-19 being further impacted by the war in Ukraine."

"We have seen record levels of inflation across a number of raw materials and spikes in the cost of freight and other logistics. As expected, a further consequence in recent months has been a squeeze on household budgets in various parts of the world."

Reporting by Frank Prenesti at Sharecast.com

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