Belfast consumer goods giant SHS Group - whose brands include popular family drink Shloer as well as Merrydown Cider, alcopop WKD, Zip & Sunny Jim firelighters and Maguire & Paterson matches - enjoyed another bumper trading year.
That it came despite what its directors admitted was a challenging year, blighted by supply chain disruption, inflationary pressures (including increased commodity, energy and transport costs), labour shortages and political instability.
The family-run group, which also distributes brands including Jordans, Ryvita, Pot Noodle, Finish, Mars Drinks and Colgate, saw its revenues rise from £642.2 million to £664.8 million in 2023.
Pre-tax profits rose from £15.6m to £17.4m, and on a bottom-line basis it retained a profit of £12.8m, which improved on the 2022 figure of £11.2m.
Gross margin, a key performance indicator for the group, was 14.6% during the period compared to 14% a year earlier, while directors said the performance was underpinned by improvements across all its trading divisions including drinks, food and household.
But over the year SHS trimmed its headcount by more than 100 staff, with its payroll dropping from 1,317 to 1,199.
Even with those reduced numbers, its wages bill still rose marginally from £57.7m to £57.9m.
The directors at SHS were paid a combined £2,519,200 (up marginally from £2,243,425 previously). Salary for the highest paid director was £975,495.
The accounts show that Elaine Birchall MBE, who had been SHS Group chief executive for a number of years, stood down from the board in July 2023. She is currently chair of CBI Northern Ireland.
In a statement with the accounts, the directors said the 2023 results “were driven be innovation, new business, and brand investment” while the group also continued to rationalise non-performing categories and channels.
They added: “We consider that, following a challenging year, the profit performance has improved and the prospects for the future are satisfactory”.
