Half yearly financial report for the six months ended 30 June 2021

Bunzl plc, the specialist international distribution and services Group, today publishes its half yearly financial report for the six months ended 30 June 2021.

Highlights include:

• Good revenue growth of 6.3% at constant exchange rates, supported by a strong recovery in the base business^♯ and acquisitions; Resilience through the pandemic, with underlying revenueⱡ 5.7% higher than in the first half of 2019
• Adjusted operating profit* increase of 14.7% at constant exchange rates and corresponding rise in adjusted earnings per share* of 18.1%; Reported operating profit up 8.8% and reported basic earnings per share up 13.8%
• Continued strong cash generation with cash conversion* of 100%, and net debt to EBITDA^† of 1.4 times with substantial headroom for acquisition growth
• Dividend per share growth of 2.5% reflects the Group’s commitment to ensuring sustainable dividend growth
• Two further acquisitions announced today, taking the total to eight acquisitions year to date; pipeline remains active

Commenting on today’s results, Frank van Zanten, Chief Executive Officer of Bunzl, said:

“As our first half results have demonstrated, our colleagues continue to navigate the challenges associated with the pandemic incredibly well. While some regions have seen a strong recovery, others have experienced greater pandemic-related restrictions at various points over the last six months. One of the key strengths of our decentralised business is the ability to respond to local situations, enabling a consistent focus on delivering the right solutions for our customers. Whilst we are now seeing a reversal in Covid-19 related sales, this has been more than offset by the recovery experienced in our base business over the first half. The Group's performance over the first half and the excellent underlying revenue growth we have delivered over a two year period demonstrate the resilience of our diversified portfolio.

Our outlook for 2021 is unchanged and we continue to expect, at constant exchange rates, underlying revenue to be moderately higher than the pre-pandemic period in 2019. Acquisitions will further contribute to growth, with £134m committed spend year to date, and an active pipeline supported by substantial financial headroom. Looking ahead, we expect future growth to be supported by a recovery in the base business and economic activity, enhanced hygiene trends and our differentiated offering of sustainable and responsible solutions.

We look forward to our Capital Markets Day on 11 October 2021, where we will give further insight on the strategic priorities for Bunzl.”

* Alternative performance measure (see Note 2).
^◊ Growth at constant exchange rates is calculated by comparing the H1 21 results to the H1 20 results retranslated at the average exchange rates used for H1 21.
^∆ During 2020, the Board reinstated the previously cancelled 2019 final dividend of 35.8p per share as an additional 2019 interim dividend which was paid in November 2020. This is not included as a component of the 2020 dividend in the table above for comparative purposes.
^† At average exchange rates and based on historical accounting standards, in accordance with Group’s external debt covenants.

Enquiries:

Half yearly financial report for the six months ended 30 June 2021

Note:

A live webcast of today’s presentation to analysts will be available on the Company’s website at www.bunzl.com commencing at 9.30 am.