Rigid plastics packaging supplier RPC Group (Higham Ferrers / UK; www.rpc-group.com) reported pretax earnings of GBP 26.4m (about EUR 38.7m) on record turnover of GBP 611.5m in the year to 31 March 2006. The margin was stable at 6% as operating profit before restructuring costs and negative goodwill increased by 19% to GBP 36.8m. The restructuring costs of GBP 2.4m were attributable to the closure of the Nampak plant in Woburn Sands, which will be vacated by 31 October 2006.

Including the Nampak acquisition, sales rose 60%, to GBP 143m, in RPC´s blow moulding operations; up 13% excluding Nampak. Demand remained flat over the year, but the investment underway for multi-layer jar production is expected to increase volumes. Thermoforming turnover increased 7% to GBP 222m. Product and process design improvements helped keep costs down and a number of product innovations are said to be close to commercialisation. Injection moulding activities saw a 14% sales increase to GBP 246m. Cost-saving initiatives helped reduce the pressure on margins, and a 10% reduction in staffing was achieved without loss of production capability or service performance.

The outlook is said to remain excellent, particularly as economic growth in Europe appears to be accelerating. Europe continues to be the main focus for the business, but RPC says it will "take advantage of attractive opportunities to grow outside Europe, particularly in response to major customer demands".

e-Service:
RPC annual report 2006 as PDF document (1,573 KB)