Adjusted pre-tax profits for the year came in at £19.1m, up 21%, with earnings per share down nearly 2% at 50.25p. Total dividend per share for the year was 12.5p, up 8.7%.
Assessing trading, BPI chief executive John Langlands said the major positive for the year just gone had been the continued success of the group's European arm.
"Sound investment in equipment and excellent management of capacity has resulted in continued improvement in product quality and customer service, while current capital investments look very promising and further investment is planned to support all three operating sites," he said.
Closer to home the picture was mixed. BPI said there were weaknesses in the industrial and construction markets, which are likely to be ongoing, but business in the agricultural and packaging sectors was strong. As a result, the company will focus on products, such as its silage stretch wrap, that promise growth and stability.
This approach saw BPI last November announced it was to close the group's Swansea polythene bag plant, and products previously made there have been transferred to other sites in the company, where customers "have signified that they are pleased with both quality and service".
The group went on: "Despite the changes we made to the UK industrial operations by closing the Stockton site, and the significant improvement in performance that this has generated, we continue to have difficulty in achieving an acceptable return in this sector."
Weak construction
What BPI called “subdued and patchy demand”, notably from customers supplying the construction sector, had resulted in shorter and less efficient loadings on machines.
The group said the situation was partly helped by the work transferred from the Swansea site, “but neither of our two larger industrial sites is fully loaded, and the short-term outlook for demand does not look promising.
“Nonetheless, we do anticipate an improved performance in 2012, but this may be tempered by demand. In the longer term, these operations are well positioned to benefit from any upturn in demand from their traditional customer base.”
Looking ahead, BPI said that raw material price volatility was likely to continue to be a factor but that the business was planning for growth and would manage any cost fluctuations as they happened. Some £80m of capital investment is planned during the coming 12 months.
“It is inevitable that margins will be affected, short term, by the current polymer price increases, as these costs are passed through to customers,” it added.
But despite these and other factors, Langlands said the business was “in better shape than ever and is growing in the more resilient sectors of the economy with emphasis on agriculture and the food chain”.
BPI’s shares were trading unchanged at 392.5p.
