UK-based mill group DS Smith has seen its pre-tax profits rise by 75% in the 12 months to 30 April 2023.
On revenue of £8.2 billion, profits before tax were £661 million.
However, in its financial results, DS Smith said that the macroeconomic backdrop remained challenging during the period, with overall demand worse than the company originally expected. In the second half of its financial year, the company saw an impact from de-stocking by its customers and weak end consumer demand.
This led to a full-year decline in box volume growth of 5.8% on last year.
Revenue was able to grow during this period by 11% due to higher selling prices, and a decline in the value of recycled materials.
DS Smith Group chief executive Miles Roberts said: “The performance of the business during the year has been excellent, despite the challenging economic environment and I am extremely proud of all our colleagues for their dedication and support. We have had an unremitting focus on meeting our customers’ rapidly changing needs with new innovation. This, together with high levels of service and our sustainability performance, has been rewarded through market share gains during the period.
“Our operational, environmental and financial performances have all been strong through the year. Our service levels have remained very high, supporting our customers through our robust and flexible supply chain. We have made excellent progress in reducing the environmental impact of our business, and also helped customers replace c.300 million pieces of plastic with fibre-based alternatives during the year. Our cost and risk management, together with price increases to reflect multi-year cost inflation, have more than offset reduced volumes during the year and delivered the excellent growth in profit and returns.
“While economic conditions have continued to be volatile and box volumes have remained lower than normal, trading for the year to date is in line with our expectations. Our strong customer relationships in the resilient FMCG sector, together with the investments we are making to drive cost efficiencies and growth, give us confidence for the future.”
