19th May 2015 06:54
LONDON (Alliance News) - Greencore Group PLC Tuesday reported huge growth in profit in the first half of its financial year, boosted by sales growth particularly in its food-to-go business in the UK and US, and as it recovered from a loss made the prior year.
The food producer reported pretax profit of GBP26.3 million in the half year ended March 27, more than treble the GBP8 million profit made in the same period the prior year, which it said was driven by growth in revenue of 3.2% to GBP639.8 million from GBP619.8 million, as well as continued operational improvements and focus on cost control.
It also made a GBP16.9 million loss from exceptional items in the prior year, which had hindered its profit at the time.
Greencore said its revenue growth continues to be driven by the food-to-go business, which demonstrated like-for-like growth of 8.7% in the period. It noted that while revenue growth was lower in the rest of the UK portfolio, the other businesses still have "market-leading positions" in their respective categories and offer complementary capabilities to food-to-go.
Greencore will pay an interim dividend of 2.4 pence, an increase of 9.1% on the 2.2p paid in the same period the year before.
"The group has stepped up its capital investment programme in new sites, which will provide a solid platform for growth in the months and years ahead. We carry good momentum into the second half and remain confident in our ability to deliver adjusted [earnings per share] growth for the year in line with market expectations," Chief Executive Patrick Coveney said in a statement.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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