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Premier Foods PLC on Thursday said profit fell in the first half of its financial year, as expenses increased. The St Albans, England-based company is a food producer offering brands that include Ambrosia, Batchelors, Biso, Mr Kipling, Oxo and Sharwood’s. Pretax profit in the 26 weeks that ended September 28 fell 8.2% to £53.5 million from £58.1 million last year, while revenue grew 1.4% to £501.0 million from £494.1 million. Selling, marketing & distributive costs reduced 9.0% to £77.2 million from £84.5 million, but cost of sales increased 3.4% to £318.8 million from £308.0 million. Administrative costs were up 19% to £39.6 million from £32.6 million, and finance costs increased 14% to £14.5 million from £12.6 million. Chief Executive Officer Alex Whitehouse said: ‘We’ve delivered another really strong branded performance in the first half, underpinned by double-digit volume growth. This demonstrates the success of our proven branded growth model, which was also supported by sharper promotional pricing. We gained both volume and value market share, outperforming the market as many consumers switched into our leading brands from own label. ‘As inflation has begun to ease and shoppers are starting to feel more confident, we’ve seen consumers treat themselves more, helping sales of both Mr Kipling Signature Bites and Ambrosia Deluxe more than double in the first half of the year. ‘As we look to the second half, we have exciting plans in place across all our brands, with our best-ever Mr Kipling Signature mince pies benefitting from expanded distribution. With this, and our continued brand momentum, we are on track to deliver on expectations for the full year. As we look further ahead, we expect revenue growth to continue to be generated from our strategic priorities of growing our UK branded core, extending into new categories, overseas expansion and [mergers & acquisitions] activity.’ Premier Foods said it was on track to deliver full-year guidance. Broker Peel Hunt forecast revenue of £1.16 billion for the group, which would represent a 1.7% growth from £1.14 billion last year, and adjusted pretax profit of £157 million, down 0.6% from £157.9 million. Shares in Premier Foods were down 0.2% at 187.38 pence each in London on Thursday morning. Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved
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