Jeyes leaps 31% to 5.5m pounds

JEYES GROUP, the cleaning products company, again underlined its recession-proof reputation, producing a 31 per cent leap in pre-tax profits to pounds 5.5m in 1992, writes John Murray.

Jim Moir, the managing director, said: 'Recessions are not as difficult to deal with for us. People always seem to need our products and we have a wide spread of business, with strong growth in the US and the Far East.'

He added that he was very pleased with the acquisition of Globol, the German household products group, which was completed in July.

Jeyes paid pounds 18m for Globol, which represented a third of the group's net assets. Mr Moir said it was a large business for Jeyes to digest, and that the group was focusing on integrating it successfully.

'We are looking at another small, bolt-on acquisition, but there is still a year's worth of reorganisation to do at Globol,' he said.

'There is plenty of room for us to get better across the group,' he added. Group turnover was 45 per cent higher at pounds 89.4m.

Earnings per share rose 16p to 21.5p and the total dividend is lifted 19 per cent to 7.6p. The shares jumped 18p to 424p, before easing back to 414p.