St-Tropez

PZ Cussons put St Tropez up for sale in April

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PZ Cussons has maintained its profits guidance for the year despite the currency in its troubled Nigerian market tanking further since a third-quarter trading update in April.

The personal care group expects to report revenues of about £528m for the year ended 31 May. It would represent a fall of almost £130m (or 19.5%) from the previous year as it struggles to deal with the devaluation of the naira.

However, despite the difficulties, the Carex and Imperial Leather supplier upheld forecasts for adjusted operating profits in the region of £55m-£60m, according to the short full-year trading update.

The group will report its results on 18 September.

It follows PZ Cussons announcing in April that it was putting its St Tropez tanning brand up for sale and exploring options for the African business in a bid to reduce complexity at the group.

Morning update

It’s a quiet morning elsewhere on the markets for fmcg.

The FTSE 100 is up 0.4% to 8,281.35pts this morning.

Earlier food and drink risers include Deliveroo, up 3.1% to 131.4p, Premier Foods, up 1.9% to 168.6p, and Coca-Cola HBC, up 1.5% to 2,770p.

There are few fallers to speak of, with Bakkavor down 1.4% to 140.5p and McBride slipping 0.7% to 133.5p.

Yesterday in the City

The FTSE 100 slipped 0.4% to 8,250.13pts.

Shares in Chapel Down slid 0.7% to 65p as the English wine maker announced it had hired Rothschild to look for potential buyers to help with further growth.

Fallers yesterday included Ocado, which slumped another 6.4% to 292.6p, Naked Wines, down 5.2% to 60p, WH Smith, down 3.4% to 1,150p, and PZ Cussons, down 3.8% to 100.6p.

Glanbia and McBride were among the climbers, up 7.6% to €18.72 and 2.7% to 135p respectively.