McBride (MCB) has released a short trading update ahead of its AGM. We last heard from the company on 17 September, so this statement covers an incremental eight weeks of trading. MCB expects operating profit for FY25 to be in line with market expectations, which are currently at £59.7m.
Fiscal YTD revenue was ahead of the comparable period. We only forecast modest (1.6%) revenue growth in FY25E, so this at least supports that forecast. As already flagged at the FY24 results in September, MCB has “an encouraging healthy pipeline of new product launches and business wins”, which also helps to underpin our estimates.
Input costs “remain in line with forecasts made at the beginning of the financial year”. However, MCB notes the potential for increased volatility in commodity markets. Although it has proved adept at recovering input cost inflation over the last two years, the potential for at least some short-term impact on profitability cannot be discounted, hence our relatively cautious FY25E profit forecasts.
MCB’s progress in paying down debt continues in line with its expectations. We forecast net debt to fall from the £131.5m reported at the end of FY24 to £115m at the FY25E year end. MCB is also on track with its refinancing plans, which are “expected to complete in the coming weeks”.
