UK's Bunzl forecasts hit from deflation to 2024 profit

(Reuters) - Britain's Bunzl on Tuesday forecast that stickier-than-anticipated deflation will have a slight impact on its annual profit, especially in its Continental Europe division.

However, the business supplies distributor still expects group adjusted operating profit in 2024 to be higher in comparison with 2023 at constant exchange rates.

Bunzl has been balancing its volume declines in the U.S., a key market for the company, with higher prices for its daily-use items, but the unexpected continuation of price declines in Continental Europe and UK and Ireland regions are expected to slightly dent its bottom line for the year.

The supplier of everything from food packaging to stationery expects expects "robust" revenue growth in 2025, helped by the portfolio of its recently acquired businesses, with group revenue for the current year to be around 3% higher than last year.

(Reporting by Yamini Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan and Mrigank Dhaniwala)