11th Nov 2015 09:24
LONDON (Alliance News) - Real Good Food PLC on Wednesday reported a narrowed pretax loss in the first half of its financial year as revenue rose and it said it is seeing encouraging signs in the third quarter which includes the key Christmas trading period.
The ingredients and baking products company said its pretax loss in the six months ended September 30 narrowed to GBP216,000 from GBP383,000 in the first half of the prior year, as revenue edged up to GBP46.7 million from GBP45.6 million.
Real Good Food said that its cake-decorating business Rainbow Dust Colours achieved significant year-on-year growth in sales and operating profit, while food ingredients business Renshaw saw improved margin and operating profit but a fall in like-for-like volumes.
Similarly, chocolate coatings and jam business R&W Scott achieved growth in operating profit and gross margin but a slight decline in sales volumes, while dairy and sugar business Garrett Ingredients suffered decreased revenue and operating profit as a result of fierce price competition.
Meanwhile, Real Good Food Europe saw an improvement in operating profit, and Haydens Bakery made sales and operating profit which were flat year-on-year. The company added that initial signs for Haydens in the third quarter leading up to Christmas are encouraging, with a strong presence of products in Marks & Spencer PLC, Whitbread PLC-owned Costa Coffee and Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC.
"We will now look to use the group's strong balance sheet to continue to invest in our three pillar markets of cake decoration, food ingredients and premium bakery, to drive earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation and operating profit as well as exploring further bolt-on acquisition opportunities," Chairman Pieter Totté said in a statement.
"We are now well into the important third quarter, which includes the Christmas trading period and I am pleased to report positive sales trends so far at both our cake decorating businesses and at Haydens. With this context, the board is confident that the outcome for the full year will be in line with current market expectations and we look forward with confidence," he added.
Shares in Real Good Food were trading down 1.6% at 51.65 pence Wednesday morning.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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