A Manchester-headquartered listed household goods manufacturer has said it is experiencing “excess demand” for its cleaning products.
McBride said order levels for goods including bleach, anti-bacterial and disinfecting sprays and certain dish and laundry cleaning products, have increased since early March.
It is “unclear” as to whether the high demand is due to short-term consumer stockpiling or additional end-user consumption, the manufacturer said.
Its factories remain open and “operating at varying levels of production”.
In a trading update today, It said: “Our ability to operate at full production is constrained by labour attendance, certain material supplies and, increasingly, distribution challenges for both inbound and outbound materials.
“At this time excess demand levels are being met for the most part from a combination of inventory and choices of production priorities.”
The group said it may experience more restrictions on its ability to match demand levels as Europe ‘locks down’ further.
The group, which issued a profit warning in January, said short-term revenue improvements are “likely” to be mitigated by a reduction in factory efficiencies.
“We are actively limiting discretionary spend, postponing or cancelling capital projects and closely monitoring working capital levels,” it said.
The group said it is unable to offer an update on guidance for the current financial year and is cancelling its interim payment to shareholders of 0.8p per share.
The board does not expect to provide an update on payments to shareholders before its scheduled update on July 14.
