Shares of Manchester-based household cleaning products firm McBride plc rose about 3% on Tuesday after it published results for the six months ended December 31, 2020, showing its revenue rose 3.6% to £362.9 million and adjusted profit before tax soared 74.2% to £16.9 million.

The company is one of Europe’s largest makers of retailer own brand household goods. Its share price has risen almost 30% over the past 12 months to give it a current stock market value of around £150 million.

McBride’s biggest shareholder is activist hedge fund Teleios Capital Partners with 24.12%. Duke University Management Company (DUMAC) owns 17.10% and Zama Capital Advisors own 11.06%.

“Our Aerosols business reported revenues 15.3% higher at constant currency in the first half compared to the prior year,” said McBride.

“This growth was driven by sales of aerosol-based sanitising products that were developed in the second half of FY20 to help fight against the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

“Following the ‘panic buying’ during the first wave of the pandemic in spring 2020, our inventory levels became heavily reduced, putting pressure on our customer service levels in the months that followed.

“This was especially true in sites producing the products most in demand, such as liquid cleaners and auto dishwash, most of which were running close to full capacity and hence recovery times have been extended. 

“It has been a key priority through the period to ensure our customers return to receiving the highest service standards. 

“As we exited the period, our overall service levels were back to the 90-95% range, with inventory levels also recovered.”

McBride CEO Chris Smith said: “I am proud of the way our company has responded to the challenges faced by the business from both Covid-19 and Brexit in the period and with these robust financial results for the six months …

“The company’s consumer end markets continue to be both buffeted and enhanced in different ways by the Covid-19 environment making demand levels more variable than usual.  

“As anticipated, we have seen input costs start to tick up but overall the board’s expectations for the full year remain in line with our December trading update.”