PZ Cussons, owner of Imperial Leather, has warned his company that it is facing the most difficult environment as cost pressures have escalated in recent weeks.
However, shares rose as the company remained true to its financial guidance despite being cautious.
Jonathan Myers is the chief executive officer at PZ Cussons. He stated that the company has cut costs across all its operations in an effort to offset rising prices.
He said that the external environment is among the most challenging that many of us have ever seen.
Input costs have been on the rise in recent weeks and it is probable that household budgets will soon be under pressure.
According to the company, price and productivity changes partially compensated for higher costs in the last quarter.
PZ Cussons reported that the group’s like-for-like revenue grew 8.5% to 146.3 millions in the three months to February 28th, compared to the same period one year earlier.
This was due to strong growth in Africa, as European sales dropped for the period.
The group maintained its optimism, however, pointing out that the growth within the group was faster than in the previous quarter.
Mr Myers stated: It’s been just over one year since we formulated our new strategy to return PZ Cussons profitable, sustainable revenue growth.
Although the next months will continue to be challenging, as will the wider consumer goods sector, I am confident in the long-term prospects of the business because of the strength and strategic progress of our brands.
In early trading, shares in the business rose 2.7% to 206p