Bunzl PLC, the London-based specialist international distribution and services group, on Wednesday reported preliminary revenue for 2020 as well as the completion of a recent acquisition.

The company expects group revenue for the year to increase 8% at actual exchange rates and 9% at constant exchange rates, with growth attributable to both organic revenue and the impact of acquisitions.

The company said it “expects the growth in COVID-19 related sales over the fourth quarter to be driven by the ongoing support of smaller orders, whilst larger orders will continue to slow. The decline in other product sales seen earlier in the year is expected to improve slightly despite the impact of recently strengthened pandemic-related restrictions in some markets. The Group operating margin in 2020 has continued to benefit significantly from the mix of products sold and is expected to be higher than the prior year.”

Bunzl also said revenue in 2021 is expected to be lower than the current year with minimal benefit from COVID-19 product orders.

The company also said it has completed the purchase of two companies. It recently closed on the acquisition of Snelling, a Canadian business focused on the sale of cleaning and hygiene products and industrial and foodservice packaging with revenue in 2019 of C$48 million (US$37.5 million).

It has also completed the acquisition of SP Equipamentos, a personal protection equipment distributor based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, with revenue in 2019 of BRL143 million (US$27.9 million).

“The group’s performance during the pandemic has demonstrated the resilience of the Bunzl portfolio, the strength of our supply chain and the agility of our decentralised operating model,” said Frank van Zanten, CEO of Bunzl. “Growth through acquisitions continues to be an important part of our strategy and the new acquisitions demonstrate our continued success in attracting high quality businesses to join Bunzl. This year has been one of the most acquisitive in our history, with more than £410 million (US$551.6 million) of committed spend. The acquisition pipeline remains active with a number of discussions ongoing.”