Bunzl has reiterated its full-year guidance after reporting that its revenue grew by 0.6% at constant exchange rates during Q3.

The distribution group said its underlying revenue increased by 0.4%, a figure in line with its expectations, after stating it had endured “challenging end markets” in key business areas.

Bunzl was releasing a Q3 trading update covering the three months to 30 June and revealed it was expecting “moderate revenue growth” in 2025. The FTSE 100 listed company suggested this would be driven by announced acquisitions and broadly flat underlying revenue.

The group also said it is forecasting its operating margin for the year to be moderately below 8%, compared to 8.3% in 2024.

Bunzl CEO, Frank van Zanten, commented: “In what remains a challenging market, we remain strongly focused on improving performance across the business.

“As we enter the important final quarter, I am pleased to see the actions that we have taken driving operational improvements, as expected. We reiterate our group outlook for 2025.”

Bunzl also reported that it has now completed around £190m of its announced £200m share buyback scheme for 2025.

van Zanten stated that as the company had highlighted in a recent investor seminar, he remains confident in “significant opportunities” for continued acquisition growth.

“We have completed seven acquisitions year-to-date and our pipeline is active,” he added. “I remain confident in the group’s underlying resilience and strength, and ability to deliver consistent compounding growth in the medium-term.”

---