- First half revenue slips 2 per cent to £27mn
- Margins improve markedly
- Pre-tax profit up 450 per cent to £1.7mn
- Net debt slashed 78 per cent to £1.2mn
The dramatic increase in Creightons (CRL:34p) profits reflects a raft of self-help measures implemented by the Peterborough-based manufacturer of beauty products.
For instance, raising selling prices and manufacturing efficiency improvements helped drive up gross margin by almost 2 percentage points to 44 per cent. So, even though revenue declined by a similar percentage to £27.1mn, gross profit increased by £0.3mn on lower sales. In addition, distribution costs have been slashed by 25 per cent to £1.4mn, primarily by exiting majority of third-party logistics providers and bringing picking and packing of finished goods in house. Management found another £0.45mn saving on administration costs, mainly by integrating its Emma Hardie business within the group’s operations and facilities. The net result was that first half underlying operating profit more than trebled from £0.5mn to £1.7mn.