Polythene products group British Polythene Industries (BPI) is back with more good news. Less than two weeks after stating that the disposal of its Chinese film extrusion facility will fetch an extra £1m of profit, management announced a potentially lucrative site consolidation strategy and expectation-breaking start to the year.
Trading in the first four months of the 2016 was lifted, among other things, by low energy costs and favourable currency effects. But the biggest trigger for the 3 per cent rise in the share price to 718p was details of the proposed closure of its films production facility in Kent. By transferring operations to BPI's recently improved facility in Merseyside, working capital will be reduced and borrowings eventually cut.
Thomas Rands at Investec reacted by upgrading his forecasts for the third time this year. He now expects adjusted EPS of 85.8p in 2017, rising to 88.3p in 2018.
