Aleen Gulvanessian

According to the group’s annual results, revenue from continuing operations grew by 10% versus 2021 to £290.4m.

The firm revealed that basic and diluted earnings per share stood at 9.89p per share (2021: 7.98p per share) and 9.78p per share (2021: 7.90p per share) respectively.

The firm’s packaging distribution arm achieved revenue growth of 8% to £259.7m (2021: £239.5m) through the recovery of input prices and the benefits from the acquisitions of Carters Packaging in March 2021 and PackMann in May 2022 which offset reduced demand from e-commerce customers.

Gross margins are stable at 32.1% (2021: 32.4%) reflecting effective recovery of input price inflation. while operating profit before amortisation only increased by 1% to £19.9m (2021: £19.7m) due to cost increases.

The key areas where costs have increased were start-up costs related to the new North-West of England distribution centre, strategic IT investments and inflationary pressures primarily in labour, energy and logistics costs.

In its manufacturing operations, the firm delivered an “excellent performance” in 2022, with revenues growing by 23% to £30.8m (2021: £25.0m) and operating profit before amortisation increasing 42% to £5.2m (2021: £3.7m).

GWP, acquired in February 2021, continued to perform well. The Macfarlane Design and Manufacture business benefited from recovery in the aerospace sector and the strengthening of its partnership with Packaging Distribution.

Aleen Gulvanessian, chair of Macfarlane Group, said: “In my first statement as Chair of Macfarlane Group, I am pleased to report that the Group results for the year ended 31 December 2022 were ahead of both the previous year and market expectations.

“Our performance in 2022 was achieved against a background of a marked slowdown in spend from the e-commerce sector, following strong growth during the 2021 Covid-19 lockdown periods, and inflationary pressures on operating costs.

“The dedication and commitment of all our colleagues has been critical to our success and I thank them for all their hard work in 2022.”

Commenting on the outlook, Ms Gulvanessian added: “We anticipate that 2023 will be another challenging year with uncertainty over the impact of the increase in the cost of living on customer demand, rising operating costs, particularly related to labour and energy, and increasing interest costs. Despite these challenges, with the effectiveness of our strategy, the resilience of our business model and the experience and commitment of our people, we expect Macfarlane Group to continue to deliver further growth in 2023.”