BUNZL (BNZL) – Business Services
| Price: £20.58 -6.9% | P/E: 15.2 |
| Market Cap: £6.9bn | Yield: 3.3% |
Specialist distribution group Bunzl released a short and fairly downbeat trading statement ahead of its year-end on 31 December confirming its revenue and operating profit guidance.
It sounds as though activity picked up in the final quarter, helped by new business wins in North America, so the margin decline should be less in the second half than the first half, but it’s not much to write home about.
Moreover, for 2026 the group sees ‘moderate’ revenue growth, which sounds like the 2%-3% posted this year, and a further small decline in margins, which isn’t what investors wanted to hear.
Our View
Bunzl used to be the gold standard for quality compounding, quietly going about its business, increasing revenue and margins as it went, but the last few years have been tough due to customers pulling in their horns.
The shares are down around a third this year, and today’s update hasn’t gone down well.
With analysts (and us) trimming our growth assumptions, the shares don’t look that cheap relative to their history so we would leave alone.
Read the press release here:
https://www.bunzl.com/investors
Disclaimer: This content is for information only and is not investment advice. Always do your own research before investing. Click here to see full disclaimer.
