McBride warns of bigger loss as costs surge, shares slump

(Reuters) -Britain's McBride raised its estimate for half-year losses as the maker of Oven Pride cleaning products battles a relentless surge in costs from global supply chain pressures, driving its shares down 10% on Thursday.

The company projected an interim operating loss of between 14 million pounds ($18.62 million) and 17 million pounds for the six months through December, up from the 10 million pounds it had estimated in October.

McBride had reported an adjusted operating profit of 19 million pounds a year earlier.

British manufacturers have faced supply chain bottlenecks due to congestion at global ports and a shortage of truck drivers, with some warning that the pressures may not ease until 2022.

McBride said packaging costs remained high and that increased fuel expenses and a shortage of haulage capacity were also keeping distribution costs elevated.

The London-listed company said it remained in talks with customers about more price hikes to cushion the impact of higher costs.

Analysts at Peel Hunt said McBride and its rivals were facing "exceptionally tough" market conditions, but added: "Assuming the price increases stick and volumes are maintained, the 2H performance should improve significantly."

The company's shares were down 9.5% at 53.6 pence, as of 0910 GMT. Earlier in the session, shares hit their lowest level in more than two years.

($1 = 0.7520 pounds)

(Reporting by Sinchita Mitra in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath, Sriraj Kalluvila and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)