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The swine flu outbreak is benefiting Manchester-based based Byotrol, which makes a biocide product that helps to prevent the spread of infections such as MRSA. Its share price climbed by 61 per cent to 14.5p, increasing its market cap to more than £11.5m as investors believed the pandemic would spark a rush in sales. Similarly, Stockport-based PZ Cussons said sales of its Carex range of antibacterial hand wash and hand gel products had climbed by 400 per cent since the outbreak was announced. “All of my team are slightly nervy about seeming to profit from misfortune but we have a real sense at the moment that we can make a difference,” said Byotrol's sales director Stephen Falder. “Even if (and I hope it is) the current alarm turns out to be an epidemic that never fully took hold, the behaviour of taking hand hygiene seriously, without developing an obsessive compulsive disorder, is a good life habit.”
