Crown Paints returns to profit

26/07/2010

Darwen-based paint manufacturer Crown Paints has returned to profit a year after its buyout by Yorkshire private equity firm Endless.
The company has posted an operating profit of £2.8m on sales of £179.2m in the year to December 31, 2009 - a figure in stark contrast to the £11.4m loss declared on turnover of £37.8m during the first quarter of trading under the new ownership between October and December last year.
The amount of paint sold in the UK retail market has increased by 22.5%, compared with the wider market sales rise of just 0.2%. The overseas sales have also gone up through higher number of exports and new licensing deals.
The buyout of Crown Paints by Endless took place in September 2008, after Dutch chemicals giant Akzo Nobel acquired Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), which owns Dulux, a year earlier. The European Competition Commission had then raised its concerns of a Akzo Nobel monopoly in the UK paints market and sparked a sale process.
Endless paid a reported £70m for the paint manufacturing company and had then proceeded towards a major restructuring in its work force - reducing its size by 9% and then conducting an overhaul of its stock and management policies. It also began to work more closely with retail customers.
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