PERSONAL healthcare brand PZ Cussons' revenues were ahead of pre-pandemic levels but analysts said its hand-washing brand couldn't "do all the heavy lifting."

Comparatives from the beginning of the Covid 19 outbreak were expected to impact year-on-year revenue comparisons in the first quarter of the year.

Revenue for the Carex brand was up more than 40 per cent in comparison to two years ago, PZ Cussons said in trading update yesterday.

Its two year first quarter revenue grew 13 per cent with growth across its core categories.

However, its one-year revenue for the quarter marked a nine per cent drop, driven by hygiene.

Dan Lane, Freetrade senior analyst, said the firm would be hoping the sanitiser boom was "here to stay." "Carex could really be the gem of an otherwise uninspired brand portfolio but it can't do all the heavy lifting itself. "Its collection just looks a bit unexciting — brands like Original Source and Imperial Leather show PZ Cussons has been trying to trade on past reputations for too long and has forgotten to keep up with the times," Lane added.

(c) 2021 City A.M., source Newspaper