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Distribution and services group Bunzl reported a rise in profit on an uptick in profit and margin amid increased sales of higher priced Covid-19 related products.
For the year ended 31 December 2020, pre-tax profit rose 22.6% to £555.7 million year-on-year as revenue increased 8.4% to £10.11 billion.
Revenue growth was driven by a strong increase in demand for Covid-19 related products offset by a decline in other product sales, particularly in the retail and foodservice sectors.
Operating margin rose to 6.8% from 6.3%, principally due 'to mix benefits from Covid-19 related products,' the company said.
'Overall in 2021 we expect robust revenue growth over the prior year at constant exchange rates, after excluding larger Covid-19 related orders which we do not expect to repeat,' the company said.
'We anticipate that the recovery in sales of other products, as restrictions ease, will broadly offset the decline of smaller Covid-19 related orders, with recent acquisitions making an increasing contribution to the group's performance,' it added.
In a separate statement, the company said it had recently completed three further acquisitions.
In January, the company acquired Deliver Net, a healthcare distributor to care home groups in the UK.
In February, the company completed the acquisition of Disposable Discounter, an online distributor of foodservice disposable products, and Pinnacle, a a cleaning & hygiene in Saskatchewan, Canada, in February.