Turnover was on a similar level to the same period last year, the group told investors at its AGM in London yesterday, with growth continuing in high value products, such as its coffee capsules, while levels of activity in both Spain and the UK"remain generally subdued".
Stock market-listed RPC said its exit from mainland European vending cups activity was progressing according to plan, and the previously-reported closure of the Superfos site in Runcorn and subsequent transfer of business activities to other sites had been completed.
Gross margins had been hit by the time lag in passing on raw material price increase to its customers, the group said, but it believed this situation would reverse “as selling prices adjust upwards and raw material costs fall”.
Ron Marsh, RPC’s chief executive, said he was encouraged to see that operating profits achieved during the first quarter had been in line with the group’s expectations, “despite the general macro-economic weaknesses and having not yet fully recovered the polymer price increases”.
Marsh went on: “With the growth in the higher-value products set to continue, I am confident that RPC is well positioned to deliver on its strategy.”
