McBride announces £20m share buyback, shares spark

(Sharecast News) - McBride shares surged on Thursday after the private label cleaning products maker announced the launch of a £20m share buyback programme and said full-year profit was on track to meet expectations. In an update ahead of its annual general meeting, the company said it "continues to deliver solid financial and operational performance" and that adjusted operating profit for the year to June 2026 will be in line with analysts' expectations of £64.3m.

This will be the third consecutive year of stable profitability at these levels, it said.

McBride said the overall market for private label household for the top five markets has remained at recent highs, with the most recent quarterly data showing market share at these levels for the seventh quarter in a row.

The company announced that a £20m share buyback programme would begin "shortly".

"The board continues to have confidence in the group's strategy, leading market position, and financial prospects, and will continue to assess future investment opportunities in that light," it said.

"However, the board believes the current market capitalisation fundamentally undervalues the group to a significant degree and therefore views the company's current share price as presenting a compelling opportunity to create substantial shareholder value through capital returns."

McBride said it plans to pursue buybacks as one of the key priority uses of available capital until its market capitalisation "more appropriately reflects the fundamental value of the business".

"Recognising that the scale of undervaluation warrants a more material response - and as long as the current significant undervaluation persists - the board will therefore seek shareholder approval to materially expand, up to 25%, the buyback authorisation from the standard 10% of shares outstanding once the current authority is close to being exhausted," it said.

At 0950 GMT, the shares were up 19.3% at 131.96p.