12th Jul 2005 07:01
Premier Foods plc12 July 2005 Premier Foods plc Trading Update for the half year to 2 July 2005 The trading outlook for the year remains in line with our expectations. Thegrocery business continues to make progress after a slow January and we arelooking forward to an improved second half when a number of our new productswill be launched into the market place. The Birds business acquired in February is trading in line with expectations andthe integration continues to progress well. We have identified that we will beable to further enhance the efficiency in our Knighton factory by replacing allthe acquired production lines. This replacement will take slightly longer toimplement than the transfer of the acquired lines and means that we willcontinue using the production facilities at Kraft's factory in Banbury until theend of the year. We are excited by prospects for Quorn and have begun the development andimplementation of our detailed plans for the business, following the completionof the acquisition on 6 June. Trading conditions continue to be difficult at MBM and we do not anticipateseeing any improvement until 2006. With regard to Sudan 1 the position remains unchanged from our previousstatements in that we have no material financial exposure. Our insurer, throughtheir loss adjuster, is in discussion with claimants regarding potentialsettlements. Premier Foods will provide an update on the effect of its implementation of IFRSand take questions via a conference call at 10:30am today Tuesday, 12 July 2005.The conference call number is 020 8322 3331, password "Premier Foods", with atelephone replay facility on 020 7081 9440, account number 801102, pass number050712, for 7 days. The IFRS update slides are available at http://www.premierfoods.co.uk/about/investor/financial/financial-presentations.cfm from9:00am. Premier Foods will be releasing its interim results for the 6 months to 2 July2005 on 6 September 2005. Premier Foods will be hosting a presentation toanalysts at 9:00am on 6 September 2005 at ABN AMRO's offices, 250 Bishopsgate,London EC2M 4AA. Premier Foods plc Tel: 01727 815 850Paul Thomas, Finance DirectorGwyn Tyley, Investor Relations Manager Citigate Dewe Rogerson Tel: 020 7638 9571Michael Berkeley,Sara Batchelor,Anthony Kennaway This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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