The rush to stock up on home cleaning and hygiene products came as no surprise last year. PZ Cussons (PZC) saw its sales climb 15 per cent in the six months to 31 November, although it warned that demand was “volatile” and that surging interest in the hand sanitiser market had brought increased competition.
PZ Cussons said its sales in the first half had been driven by the Carex brand of soap and sanitiser, but warned that weaker consumer confidence and cost pressures could hit second-half profits.
The consumer goods giant was confident enough to hold its half-year dividend level with last year at 2.67p. This came after a cut to the final 2020 dividend, however, which was made to channel cash into “key brands” and “new opportunities such as hygiene amid Covid-19 related uncertainty”.
Consensus forecasts see the 2021 total payout remaining broadly flat on 2020, at 5.83p, and then rising to 5.97p in 2022.
Non-executive director Jeremy Townsend has also backed the group's post-pandemic prospects, buying £24,779 in shares this month. The former Rentokil Initial (RTO) finance chief, who retired from that job last year, is also plugged into the retail space as a non-executive director at WM Morrison Supermarkets (MRW).
He is not alone in supporting PZ Cussons. The company’s share price has risen steadily in the past 12 months to almost 278p, an almost three-year high, earlier this month. The next milestone for the company is a strategic update on 25 March, where its Africa operations and post-hand sanitiser rush should come under investor and analyst scrutiny. Speculative buy at 247p.
Last IC View: Buy, 240p, 26 Jan 2021
| Buys | ||||
| Company | Director/PDMR | Date | Price (p) | Aggregate value (£) |
| British American Tobacco | Luc Jobin* | 19 Feb 2021 | 3,643 | 1,639,350 |
| GlaxoSmithKline | Diana Conrad (PDMR)* | 19 Feb 2021 | 2,451 | 83,334 |
| Hargreaves Lansdown | Philip Johnson | 17 Feb 2021 | 1,931 | 29,834 |
| Personal Assets Trust | Iain Ferguson | 19 Feb 2021 | 450 | 225,125 |
| PZ Cussons | Jeremy Townsend | 22 Feb 2021 | 247 | 24,779 |
*Via American depositary shares (£1=$1.40) | ||||
| Sells | ||||
| Company | Director/PDMR | Date | Price (p) | Aggregate value (£) |
| Adriatic Metals | Peter Bilbe* | 22 Feb 2021 | 123 | 183,900 |
| Berkeley Group Holdings | Sean Ellis | 17 Feb 2021 | 4,317 | 299,039 |
| Bushveld Minerals | Ian Watson (ch) | 17 Feb 2021 | 17 | 186,320 |
| City of London Investment Group | Barry Olliff | 19 Feb 2021 | 525 | 60,375 |
| Hays | John Faraguna (PDMR) | 18 Feb 2021 | 157 | 157,000 |
| Scancell Holdings | Martin Diggle | 18 Feb 2021 | 26 | 318,750 |
| *Converted from Australian dollars (£1=$1.77) | ||||
