Global ingredients player Treatt bounced back from a weak first quarter to grow full-year revenues and profits as higher commodity prices and growth in China boosted performance.

Announcing results for the year to 30 September, the manufacturer for ingredients for the beverage, flavour and fragrance industries posted revenue growth of 3.8% to £151.m (5.7% in constant currency).

This growth reflected a sales increase of 13% in the second half of its year as growth from new business wins and normalisation in industry demand mitigated a slow start to the year impacted by global customer destocking.

Nevertheless, overall growth was marginally lower than anticipated as it said extreme weather in the US delayed a large shipment at year-end, shifting associated revenue into 2025.

Full-year growth reflected growing volumes with key customers and price increases in citrus due to sustained higher commodity prices.

It also said China continued to see growth momentum driven by localised innovation, while it saw strong growth in tea underpinned by branded wins in North America and expansion of its premium offer.

Gross profit margin fell back to 29.1% from 30.4%, though pre-tax profits overall were up 36.3% to £18.5m due to “strong cost discipline”.

Year-end net debt also significantly reduced to £0.7m from £10.4m, reflecting cash generation and investment discipline.

CEO David Shannon, who joined the group in June, said: “We made great progress, with growth in both sales and profit, boosted by a really strong revenue performance in the second half, up 13%.

“And I am particularly pleased that we have brought net debt right down thanks to our strong cash generation, with further momentum to be cash positive in the new financial year. This performance not only reflects good conversion of the order book and the strong cost discipline that’s now embedded across the group, but also normalising demand trends and the benefits of investment.

“I’m excited about the future and I see clear opportunities to build on what has been achieved so far. We will look to enhance our agility and explore new areas within existing, adjacent and new markets.”

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