15th May 2018 10:29
LONDON (Alliance News) - Mr Kipling cakes and Aah Bisto gravy maker Premier Foods PLC said Tuesday its annual revenue, profit and net debt was ahead of market expectations as it reported its strongest revenue performance in five years.
For the financial year that ended in March, pretax profit expanded to GBP20.9 million from GBP12.0 million the year prior. This was after revenue rose to GBP819.2 million from GBP790.4 million the year before.
During the year, Premier Foods reduced net debt by GBP26.8 million to GBP496.4 million.
"We are pleased to report revenue growth of 3.6%, our strongest performance for over five years," Premier Foods Chief Executive Officer Gavin Darby said. "After a slower start in the first quarter, performance accelerated during the year as planned, with revenue in the second half up 5.3% and 7.0% higher in quarter four.
"Three important drivers of this performance were innovation, our International business, and our strategic partnerships with Nissin and Mondelez International. International has been the star performer with sales growing 25%, and are almost double the level of three years ago, while the benefits from our Nissin and Mondelez International partnerships together contributed 55% of our revenue growth.
"In the year ahead, we expect to make further progress on our key priorities, building on the strong momentum we created in 2017/18," Darby added.
Shares in Premier Foods were 2.9% higher at 38.85 pence on Tuesday.
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