UK's Mpac warns on profit on Iran war hit, to sell Lambert unit
UK's Mpac warns on profit on Iran war hit, to sell Lambert unit June 8 (Reuters) - British packaging automation firm Mpac Group MPAC.L on Monday warned that annual profit would fall "substantially" below market expectations and announced the sale of its Lambert unit, sending shares down nearly 24%, as uncertainty from the Middle East conflict delays orders and erodes pricing power.
The group, which restructured operations last year when U.S. tariffs hurt its order book, is joining global companies across sectors in cutting costs and reassessing investments as the prolonged war heightens uncertainty and disrupts supply chains.
Here are some details:
Trading margins have continued to deteriorate since April's annual results due to heightened competitive pricing, lower operational leverage from reduced volumes, and delays in customer capital spending decisions
First-half margins are expected to fall below the prior year, with full-year 2026 underlying profit before tax now seen substantially below market expectations on a like-for-like basis
The company has cut costs, reduced operational capacity and focused on cash generation, helping its order book recover to £98.8 million ($131.7 million) at end of May from £90 million in December end
Lambert, which creates, automation solutions for product assembly processes will be sold to Italy's Mech.i. Tronic for an initial £16 million cash, as Mpac focuses on scalable packaging machinery solutions
Sale proceeds will significantly reduce group net debt, which stood at £47.9 million at end-December 2025
($1 = 0.7504 pounds)
(Reporting by Raechel Thankam Job in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
((RaechelThankam.Job@thomsonreuters.com;))