UK's McBride flags deeper hit from Mideast war, shares slump

June 12 (Reuters) - Private-label cleaning products maker McBride on Friday warned profits over the next two years would fall short of expectations, as costs driven by the Middle East war outpaced its ability to mitigate them, sending shares sharply lower.

Shares in the Manchester-headquartered company slid 9.7% to 149.8 pence by 0806 GMT, making them the top percentage loser on the FTSE small-cap index.

The three-month war has inflated energy prices and the cost of petrochemical-derived raw materials such as surfactants and plastic packaging, key inputs for McBride's products, while disrupting global supply chains.

For the fiscal years ending June 30, 2026 and 2027, McBride expects annual profit to be 5% to 10% lower than consensus.

Analysts expect £64.2 million ($86.06 million) and £70.6 million, respectively, in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, and amortization, according to a company-compiled poll.

"The cumulative impact on input costs has exceeded our original expectations due to the continuing and prolonged period of the conflict, which has required a second phase of price recovery actions," the company said in a statement.    

In April, McBride had described the impact of the war as "relatively small" and "mostly limited to haulage cost increases", and had implemented temporary price adjustments with customers.

It did not specify on Friday what further actions it was taking.

McBride said it does not expect direct cost pressures to rise considerably further or meaningfully decline in the near-term, given the uncertain duration of the war.

It said that due to the time it would take to implement measures, the hit from the higher costs will be concentrated in the fourth quarter of 2026 and the first quarter of 2027, before performance normalises from the second quarter.

($1 = 0.7460 pounds)

(Reporting by DhanushVignesh Babu in Bengaluru; Writing by Pushkala Aripaka; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Eileen Soreng)