The riches in soap.
From its upgraded facilities in Shepparton, Victoria, Pental makes some of Australia’s best-loved brands like White King, Velvet Pure Soap and Martha Gardener Wool Mix.
This historic and growing ASX-listed business with revenues in excess of $100 million, 120 employees, and markets in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, has come through tough times to regain its shine.
Rising operating costs and sales and marketing strategies that did not cater for the market needs had hurt the company’s performance. A sales and marketing makeover, and a fresh injection of funds along with a significant reduction in debt were needed to keep its iconic products on supermarket shelves.
Pental’s restructuring included the closure of its loss-making Oleo Chemical business and new strategies to refocus the business in the fast-moving consumer goods sector.
Following the closure of the Oleo Chemical business in Port Melbourne, Pental relocated and upgraded its White King bleach production facility to its Shepparton site’ in order to consolidate all its manufacturing to one location.
“We needed to upgrade our manufacturing facilities and improve the plant’s performance to lower the cost of goods sold,” explained Pental’s General Manager, Charlie McLeish.
The move paid off as it enabled the company to compete with International brands.
“We’ve been successful in tendering for some private label business” Mr McLeish said. The move into private label manufacturing lets Pental capture a slice of the growing market for supermarket-branded products.
Albert Zago, Pental’s Chief Financial Officer, said the restructuring was made possible in part by the $15 million debtor financing facility provided by GE Capital.
This funding solution empowered Pental to leverage its balance-sheet assets, giving the company access to finance it needed to fulfill supplier commitments and undertake its restructuring requirements.
Critical to this process was the need to meet strict funding deadlines set by Pental’s primary banker, which the company achieved with the help of GE Capital in June this year.
This restructure was an important milestone for an historic Australian company that started manufacturing soaps in 1954. “ The relocated and upgraded Bleach Plant facility has been operating since late July and it’s going well,” said Mr McLeish.
“We’ve gone from being a bar soap company in its humble beginnings through to providing a full portfolio of products.”