The company reported pdf a pretax profit of £110.2m for the year to april 2012 and a 12 revenue growth to £1,969.4m. Miles roberts, group chief executive, said &ldquo201112 has been a pivotal year for ds smith. Building on the success of the previous year we further improved the operational and financial performance of the business, with substantial improvements in revenue, growth, profitability, and returns on capital. Roberts said the company was looking to complete its acquisition, announced in january, of sca packaging in the coming year which would &ldquotransform ds smith&rsquos paneuropean market position&rdquo.
He added &ldquothe economic conditions across europe remain challenging. Ds smith is positioned to perform well in this environment, due to our resilient customer base, the opportunity for substantial cost and cash synergies as previously announced, and our track record of delivering sustainable returns in challenging market conditions.&rdquo on its recycling operations, the company report said &ldquooverall volumes of fibre collected increased by 3 to 1.8 million tonnes.
We are now operating in poland where we have a sole fibre and waste supply contract with tesco, collecting from 400 locations across that country.&rdquo the company said revenue in its uk packaging business, comprising recycling, paper manufacturing and design and manufacture of corrugated packaging, grew 5. It said its recycling and corrugated packaging operations had a &ldquorobust&rdquo performance for the year resulting in an improvement in operating profits of 19 &ldquodespite significant headwinds from the paper manufacturing business, where market conditions have been volatile&rdquo.