(Alliance News) - Meat producer Cranswick PLC on Monday said its full-year outlook remains in line with management expectations as revenue rose in the first quarter.
Yorkshire-based Cranswick said revenue in the 13 weeks ended June 26 climbed 9.6% ahead of the same period a year prior.
Income increased as the food-to-go market picked up and UK pig prices increased. Pig prices rose 12% across the quarter, despite the average price falling 9% below the same period a year earlier.
Volumes increased by 7.7% in the quarter, indicating higher retail demand for Cranswick's Eye poultry facility in Suffolk.
Shares in Cranswick were trading up 2.4% at 4,096.00 pence each in London on Monday morning.
Meanwhile, exports to East Asia were "well ahead" of last year, the company said, despite the continued suspension of its China export licence at its Norfolk primary processing facility.
Cranswick said it is awaiting final approval for the Norfolk site after its technical audits were passed in January.
The company's investment programme also progressed in the first quarter, it said, including GBP20 million spent on its cooked bacon facility in Hull, which began commercial output during the recent quarter.
In the following quarter, the food producer has earmarked plans to spend a further GBP5 million at the plant.
"We have made a positive start to the year. Our capital investment programme remains firmly on track as we build the platform to deliver our long-term growth strategy...We also continue to support our customers by delivering excellent service levels to ensure full availability of our products," said Chief Executive Adam Couch.
By late-June net debt was only slightly above its March position, Cranswick said, maintaining "comfortable" headroom through committed, unsecured facilities of GBP200 million.
In May, Cranswick had noted a "positive" start to its new financial year, after reporting pretax profit of 114.8 million in the financial year that ended March 27, up 10% from GBP104.0 million.
Revenue grew to GBP1.90 billion in financial 2021, up 14% on the year before and representing like-for-like growth of 12%.
By Scarlett Butler; scarlettbutler@alliancenews.com
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Cranswick (CWK)