Annual sales and profits rise for DS Smith
Packaging group DS Smith enjoyed strong growth in sales and profits in the year to the end of April.
The group, which has a factory in Smethwick and a recycling site in Willenhall, saw revenue grow 14 per cent to £8.22 billion.
Pre-tax profits were up 75 per cent to £661 million.
The group said that current trading was in line wit expectations.
Chief executive Miles Roberts said: "The performance of the business during the year has been excellent, despite the challenging economic environment and I am extremely proud of all our colleagues for their dedication and support. We have had an unremitting focus on meeting our customers' rapidly changing needs with new innovation. This, together with high levels of service and our sustainability performance, has been rewarded through market share gains during the period.
"Our operational, environmental and financial performances have all been strong through the year. Our service levels have remained very high, supporting our customers through our robust and flexible supply chain. We have made excellent progress in reducing the environmental impact of our business, and also helped customers replace circa 300 million pieces of plastic with fibre-based alternatives during the year. Our cost and risk management, together with price increases to reflect multi-year cost inflation, have more than offset reduced volumes during the year and delivered the excellent growth in profit and returns.
"While economic conditions have continued to be volatile and box volumes have remained lower than normal, trading for the year to date is in line with our expectations."
