Bunzl shares take a beating after beating targets

The price of shares in Bunzl (LON:BNZL) has dropped by 3.86% to 2,441p (as of 12:15 GMT) despite the FTSE 100 firm beating revenue forecasts for the year ended 31st December. Operating margins fell by 30 basis points in North America and 50 basis points in the UK and Ireland due to operating cost pressures and additional lower margin grocery trading.

Chief executive Frank van Zantan commented: “Bunzl has once again delivered another good set of results with adjusted earnings per share up 12% at constant exchange rates. The strength, resilience and reliability of our consistent business model and strategy, together with the compounding effect of our ability to reinvest our strong cash flow to take advantage of market consolidation opportunities, have enabled Bunzl to produce a strong long term performance.

Looking forward, despite mixed macroeconomic conditions, with an active pipeline of acquisition opportunities we believe that the prospects of the Group are positive due to its strong market position and well established and successful strategy to grow the business both organically and by acquisition“.