In results published this morning, RPC revealed that sales for the year to 31 March 2013 slipped to £1.05bn, from £1.13bn the previous year. Pre-tax profit fell to £40.3m compared to £59.6m a year earlier.
The results cover the last year of Ron Marsh’s leadership at the business that he has run since 1989, in that time building it into a pan-European force in plastic packaging. He is due to retire from the RPC board on 10 July but handed the top job to Pim Vervaat, who was previously chief finance officer, on 1 May.
Ron Marsh: retiring in July after running RPC since 1989
In today’s statement, chairman Jamie Pike publicly thanked Marsh for his “very significant contribution to the success of the business”.
In the statement, Vervaat said that the weakening of the euro against sterling, compared to the previous year, had been the major factor in depressing both revenue and profit. More than three-quarters of RPC’s sales are generated outside the UK.
Chairman Jamie Pike said the group had “delivered a robust performance in a challenging economic environment with adverse movements in currency exchange rates and polymer prices”.
He said, however, that he was “confident that the underlying business improvements will continue to be achieved with RPC well positioned to benefit from an economic recovery going forward”.
Key developments in the year reported in today’s results statement included the completion of the integration of Danish group Superfos, the acquisition late last year of UK firm Manuplastics and the sale of a loss-making automotive parts manufacturer.
Fitter for the Future
Another key development for the year has been the launch of RPC’s ‘Fitter for the Future’ programme.
The programme aims to optimise the group’s operations for the future. A first phase has led to the closure of facilities in Antwerp in Belgium and Beuningen in the Netherlands, as well as efficiency drives at other sites.
RPC today reported that a planned investment of £30m in the programme would yield around £12m annually by the 2015/16 year.
