Creightons (CRL) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: £16.79M
• Dividend Yield: 3.17%
• Average Volume (3M): 174.87K
• Price to Earnings (P/E): 4.7
• Beta (1Y): 0.69
• Revenue Growth: 2.83%
• EPS Growth: N/A
• Country: UK
• Employees: 390
• Sector: Consumer Defensive
• Sector Strength: 42
• Industry: Household & Personal Products
• EPS (TTM): 0.02
• Shares Outstanding: 68,527,320
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 159,513
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 174,873
• PEG Ratio: -0.05
• Price to Book (P/B): 0.79
• Price to Sales (P/S): 0.35
• P/FCF Ratio: 8.58
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: N/A
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: N/A
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: N/A
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: N/A
• 1Y Price Target: N/A
• Price Target Upside: N/A
• Rating Consensus: N/A
• Number of Analyst Covering: 0
• EPS Forecast (FY): N/A
• Revenue Forecast (FY): N/A

• Rating: 72 Outperform
• Price Target: 29.00 p ▲(1.75% Upside)
• Action: Reiterated Date: 11/25/25
• Date: Action: Reiterated 11/25/25

Creightons' strong financial performance and attractive valuation are the primary drivers of its overall score. The robust balance sheet and low P/E ratio suggest financial stability and potential undervaluation. However, technical indicators show a bearish trend, and the decline in free cash flow growth is a risk that needs addressing.

Positive Factors

Low Financial Leverage

A debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13 indicates low leverage and materially reduces financial risk over cycles. This durable strength supports stable interest costs, capacity for opportunistic capex or M&A, and resilience to demand shocks, preserving strategic optionality.

Improving Margins and Revenue Recovery

Recovering top-line and a higher gross margin (44.67%) reflect better cost control, pricing power or improved input sourcing. Sustained margin expansion increases operating leverage, enabling incremental profit from modest sales growth and supporting longer-term cash generation.

Dual Revenue Model

A business model mixing contract manufacturing and owned brands diversifies revenue, reduces customer concentration risk, and balances volume stability (B2B contracts) with higher margin upside (branded products). This structural mix supports steadier cash flow over cycles.

Negative Factors

Sharp Free Cash Flow Decline

A nearly 60% drop in free cash flow growth is a material deterioration in cash generation. If persistent, it constrains reinvestment, dividend capacity and debt servicing, and forces trade-offs on working capital, capex or shareholder returns, reducing strategic flexibility.

Low Net Profit Margin

A sub-5% net margin leaves limited buffer against cost inflation, pricing pressure or competitive moves. Over time this constrains retained earnings for reinvestment and makes the business more sensitive to cyclical downturns, limiting durable internal funding for growth.

Weak Cash Conversion

An operating cash flow to net income ratio of 0.31 shows earnings are not converting efficiently to cash, suggesting working capital strain or timing issues. Persistently weak cash conversion undermines liquidity, earnings quality, and the company's ability to self-fund operations.

Creightons Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

Creightons Plc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and markets toiletries and fragrances in the United Kingdom and internationally. It offers haircare, skincare, bath and body, wellbeing, and male grooming products. The company also offers private label products for high street retailers and supermarket chains; and engages in the contract manufacturing business on behalf of third-party brand owners. It offers its products under the Argan Smooth, Balance Active Formula, Bambeautiful, Beautiful Brunette, Body Bliss, Bronze Ambition, Creightons, Charcoal, Creightons Frizz No More, Creightons H2O Boost, Creightons Pink Grapefruit, Creightons Pro Keratin, Crème de Cocunut & Keratin, Feather & Down, Humble Beauty, PureTouch, Salicylic Acid, Sunshine Blonde, Superfruits, and The Curl Company brands. The company also provides its products online. Creightons Plc was founded in 1954 and is based in Peterborough, the United Kingdom.

How the Company Makes Money

Creightons makes money primarily by selling personal care and beauty products through two main routes: (1) manufacturing and supplying products for other brand owners/retailers (often referred to as contract manufacturing or private label), where revenue is earned from producing agreed volumes of finished goods to customer specifications; and (2) selling products under its own brands, where revenue is earned from wholesale and/or direct sales of branded items to retailers, distributors and other channels. In both cases, earnings are driven by product volumes, product mix (including premium or higher-margin formulations), and the company’s ability to efficiently formulate, source inputs, manufacture, and fulfill orders. If information about specific customers, contractual terms, or named partnerships is not publicly available in the provided context, null.

Creightons Financial Statement Overview

Summary

Creightons shows strong financial performance with improving revenue and profitability margins. The balance sheet is robust with low leverage, enhancing financial stability. However, the significant decline in free cash flow growth is a concern and needs attention.

Income Statement

Creightons has shown a positive revenue growth rate of 2.56% in the latest year, recovering from a decline in previous years. The gross profit margin has improved to 44.67%, indicating efficient cost management. However, the net profit margin is relatively low at 4.54%, suggesting room for improvement in profitability. The EBIT and EBITDA margins have also improved, reflecting better operational efficiency.

Balance Sheet

The company maintains a strong balance sheet with a low debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, indicating low leverage and financial stability. The return on equity is 10.12%, showing effective use of equity to generate profits. The equity ratio is healthy, suggesting a solid capital structure with a good proportion of equity financing.

Cash Flow

Creightons experienced a significant decline in free cash flow growth, down by 59.86%, which is a concern. However, the operating cash flow to net income ratio is 0.31, indicating that the company generates sufficient cash from operations relative to its net income. The free cash flow to net income ratio is 0.77, showing decent cash generation relative to profits.

Breakdown	TTM	Mar 2024	Mar 2023	Mar 2022	Mar 2021	Mar 2020
Income Statement
Total Revenue	54.21M	54.07M	53.19M	58.57M	61.16M	61.60M
Gross Profit	24.15M	24.15M	22.83M	24.05M	25.75M	24.48M
EBITDA	5.02M	5.24M	-1.21M	2.69M	5.34M	6.94M
Net Income	2.32M	2.45M	-3.53M	514.00K	3.11M	4.33M
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	39.67M	38.14M	36.14M	45.54M	47.85M	33.55M
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	3.35M	3.66M	3.14M	1.65M	840.00K	6.56M
Total Debt	2.94M	3.25M	3.92M	7.28M	8.22M	3.96M
Total Liabilities	14.72M	13.91M	14.09M	20.06M	22.17M	13.46M
Stockholders Equity	24.95M	24.22M	22.05M	25.48M	25.68M	20.09M
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	2.43M	2.23M	5.42M	4.67M	-508.00K	4.17M
Operating Cash Flow	2.94M	2.91M	6.03M	5.81M	1.22M	5.41M
Investing Cash Flow	-802.00K	-662.00K	-608.00K	-2.64M	-8.09M	-1.07M
Financing Cash Flow	-1.02M	-1.73M	-3.95M	-2.35M	1.16M	-1.46M

Creightons Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Negative
• Last Price: 28.50
• 50DMA: Negative
• 100DMA: Negative
• 200DMA: Negative
• MACD: Positive
• RSI: Positive
• STOCH: Neutral

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For GB:CRL, the sentiment is Negative. The current price of 28.5 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 27.37, above the 50-day MA of 27.56, and below the 200-day MA of 31.33, indicating a bearish trend. The MACD of -0.75 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 14.36 is Positive, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 20.83 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Negative sentiment for GB:CRL.

Creightons Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
W7L	78 Outperform	£155.92M	15.51	21.32%	5.97%	6.38%	-10.55%
CRL	72 Outperform	£16.79M	4.66	9.67%	3.17%	2.83%	―
MCB	66 Neutral	£230.14M	3.91	30.98%	2.12%	-0.89%	1.30%
VLG	65 Neutral	£83.97M	-8.91	-0.12%	―	―	―
Sector *	62 Neutral	$20.33B	14.63	-3.31%	3.23%	1.93%	-12.26%
PZC	54 Neutral	£299.52M	14.34	-2.16%	4.82%	-2.67%	89.86%
REVB	42 Neutral	£28.40M	-0.15	97.34%	―	-31.02%	-4458.82%

Creightons Corporate Events

Creightons Keeps Block Admission Balance Unchanged as No Options Exercised

Creightons plc reported its latest six‑monthly block admission return for its employee share option scheme, confirming that no new shares were issued or allotted under the scheme between 12 September 2025 and 12 March 2026. As a result, the balance of unallotted securities under the block admission remains unchanged at 5,138,520 ordinary shares, signalling stability in the company’s capital structure and no recent dilution for existing shareholders.

The company noted that the block admission has not been increased since the previous return, with the original 7,562,000 ordinary shares having been admitted in October 2021. This update, a routine disclosure under AIM rules, provides transparency for investors on potential future share issuance tied to employee options while indicating that staff have not exercised options in the latest reporting period.

The most recent analyst rating on (GB:CRL) stock is a Hold with a £28.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Creightons stock, see the GB:CRL Stock Forecast page.

Creightons Non-Executive Director Increases Stake with Share Purchase

Creightons plc has disclosed that non-executive director Paul Watts purchased 53,000 ordinary shares in the company at £0.278 per share on 4 February 2026, increasing his total holding to 160,000 shares. The director dealing, conducted on AIM in accordance with UK Market Abuse Regulation, signals added board-level confidence in the business and provides investors with updated information on insider share ownership.

The most recent analyst rating on (GB:CRL) stock is a Buy with a £30.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Creightons stock, see the GB:CRL Stock Forecast page.

Creightons Discloses Share Purchase by Associate of Non-Executive Director

Creightons plc has disclosed that Steve Denison, a person closely associated with non-executive director Jemima Bird, purchased 52,994 ordinary shares in the company at a price of £0.2677 per share. The share acquisition, carried out on 28 January 2026 on AIM, represents a notified insider dealing under UK Market Abuse Regulation, signalling increased aligned interest from a party connected to the company’s board but without any stated change to corporate strategy or operations.

The most recent analyst rating on (GB:CRL) stock is a Buy with a £29.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Creightons stock, see the GB:CRL Stock Forecast page.