(Reuters) -Britain’s McBride reported a half-year loss on Tuesday, as the maker of Oven Pride cleaning products faced a relentless surge in costs from global supply chain pressures.
“The group is experiencing the most extreme inflationary cost environment probably ever to hit this sector,” Chief Executive Officer Chris Smith said in a statement.
Supply snags triggered by a pandemic-led surge in demand for retail goods have forced companies worldwide to raise prices to counter rising costs of raw materials, labour and transport.
McBride said it expects to return close to break-even at an earnings before interest, taxes, and amortization (EBITA) level in the final quarter of the year ending June 30, before moving on to modest profits in the new financial year.
The company has been in talks with customers about hiking prices, and its outlook rests on the outcome of those discussions, inflationary pressures and supply chain disruptions, Smith said.
The London-listed group reported an adjusted pretax loss for the six months ended Dec. 31 of 16.9 million pounds ($23 million), compared with an adjusted pretax profit of 16.9 million pounds a year earlier.
($1 = 0.7362 pounds)
(Reporting by Muhammed Husain in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
