Finsbury Food profit rises amid solid UK bakery performance
Finsbury Food posted a rise in interim profit on Monday thanks to a solid performance from its UK bakery segment and new business wins as it said full-year earnings are set to be in line with market expectations.
Finsbury Food Group
110.00p
16:50 15/11/23
Food Producers & Processors
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17:10 19/04/24
FTSE AIM All-Share
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17:08 19/04/24
In the 26 weeks to 28 December, pre-tax profit increased 17.9% to £8.8m on revenue of £159.4m, up 4.7% on the same period a year ago.
Basic earnings per share rose 14% to 4.9p and the company lifted its interim dividend by 6% to 1.23p a share.
Operating profit in the core UK bakery division was up 4.2% at £7.7m and revenue was 5.8% higher at £141.2m. This helped to offset a 6.7% decline in overseas operating profit to £1.2m and a 3.5% drop in overseas revenue to £18.2m.
Chief executive John Duffy said: "The first half was both a period of growth and of successful delivery against our strategic priorities. Revenue and profit were up, largely driven by organic performance in UK bakery as well as new business wins and the first full six-month contribution from our Free From business.
"Moving into the second half, while the macroeconomic pressures affecting the industry look set to continue, our long-term, consistent and disciplined approach to investment and unwavering focus on driving increased productivity and efficiency across the group means Finsbury is now a much more resilient business and better equipped to weather difficult trading conditions."
At 1015 GMT, the shares were up 2.1% at 102.60p.