Corrected: British Polythene posts 2009 net profits of £8.1m

01 March 2010 10:23  [Source: ICIS news]

Correction: In the ICIS news story headlined “British Polyethylene posts 2009 net profits of £8.1m” dated 1 March 2010, please read the headline as “British Polythene posts 2009 net profits …” instead of “British Polyethylene …”

LONDON (ICIS news)--British Polythene Industries (BPI) described current market conditions as “challenging” as it revealed full-year 2009 net profits of £8.1m ($12.3m, €9m), up from the £2.8m it earned in 2008, the plastics processor said on Monday.

Full-year sales were down 11.6% year on year at £425m, BPI said.

BPI said the defensive sectors of its business – agriculture, retail food and related transit packaging, healthcare and refuse sacks – remained resilient to the downturn.

Although demand was still weak in construction, industrial and non-food retail markets, it was not worsening, BPI added.

“And with our capacity more in line with this demand, we expect to stem the losses from the industrial part of our UK business by the end of June,” it said.

After that time, the company said it should start to see the full benefits of a major plant closure in the UK, at Stockton, and the relocation of manufacturing to Ardeer.

“The UK and Irish markets are in the grip of a prolonged recession for their construction industries, with little sign of any light on the horizon. Parts of the UK public sector now face many years of reduced spend and this could easily result in reduced demand for some of our products,” BPI said in its results statement.

(£1 = $1.52/£1 = €1.12)

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By: Nigel Davis
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