Bunzl shares fall after revealing flat like-for-like trading
Bunzl's share price fell over 1.5 per cent today after revealing that third quarter underlying revenues were at a similar level to last year.
The outsourcing and distribution group said that overall revenue was up by seven per cent. But four per cent of this was attributable to new business purchases and three per cent was as a result of an increased number of working days compared with 2015.
Read more: Bunzl goes on a shopping spree as profits rise
Robin Speakman, an analyst at Shore Capital Markets, said: "The flat organic performance is in-line with our forecasts. We note that we expect a return to organic growth in 2017… this presently feels a little optimistic perhaps."
Bunzl confirmed that it had completed on the purchase of Silwell, a Hungarian disposable food service distributor, and announced two more acquisitions. UK-based Tri-Star Packaging Supplies and Blyth, a Prague headquartered distributor of personal protection equipment.
Although no transaction values were disclosed, all three businesses generate annual revenues of less than £30m per year.
Read more: Bunzl revenue rises seven per cent in first half of 2015
Frank van Zanten, the chief executive of Bunzl, welcomed the acquisitions:
The purchase of both Tri-Star and Kingsbury has further expanded our food service and food retail product offerings in the UK and Ireland and extended our customer base in these important market sectors.
The acquisition of Blyth represents our first step into the safety sector in the Czech Republic and complements our existing operations in central Europe.