McBride, one of Europe's leading private label manufacturers, has forecast a one per cent rise in its full-year sales. Chris Bull, McBride CEO, says he is pleased that the company had "delivered revenue growth and an improved operating margin”, with clear signs that consumers are turning increasingly to own-label products over their branded counterparts, prompted by the current economic difficulties.
Panmure analyst Damian McNeela commented, “We believe that McBride should be a beneficiary of the increasing trend towards private label in its core markets and with the input cost environment remaining broadly stable further improvement in margins should be achievable."
The company claims to be Europe's leading manufacturer of household and personal care own label products and has targeted and prioritised the skincare market, which is valued at over £15 billion in the UK. In 2010, the company acquired Newlane Cosmetics and Fortlab in Vietnam and Malaysia, respectively, and has expanded its manufacturing facility in Shongushan, China.
An engineer by profession, CEO Chris Bull joined in May 2010 after a 25-year career at Unilever, including chief executive positions in Poland and the Baltics. Sandra Turner joined the company's board as a non-executive director in August 2011, and was previously a senior member of the Tesco management team for over 20 years, where she had a significant involvement in the group's beauty and personal care category, as well as a two-year stint as commercial director at Tesco Ireland.
