Greencore says business picks up as annual earnings fall 39%

(Sharecast News) - Greencore said business had picked up in the fourth quarter as the convenience foods company's annual earnings fell 39%.
The maker of sandwiches and other "food to go" for retailers such as Marks & Spencer said annual adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation would be about £85m after charging more than £10m for one-off Covid-19 costs. In 2019 EBITDA was £140m.

Greencore shares fell 7.3% to 94.40p at 08:16 BST.

Revenue fell to £1.27bn from £1.45bn after Covid-19 hit demand for its products and the FTSE 250 company was forced to close its factory in Northampton in August because of a coronavirus outbreak. Greeencore said production was fully restored at Northampton by mid-September.

Greencore said revenue, earnings and cash generation improved steadily in the fourth quarter, which ended on 25 September. Group revenue fell 19% in the fourth quarter compared with 36% in the third quarter and the rate of food to go revenue decline eased to 28% from 53%.

Chief Executive Patrick Coveney said: "The fourth quarter of our financial year has seen an ongoing improvement in demand for our products. We are realistic but also confident in our plans for FY21, and remain excited by Greencore ' s longer term prospects."