Premier Foods annual profit to be at upper end of market expectations

(Alliance News) - Premier Foods PLC on Wednesday announced a rise in revenue over the Christmas period, boosted by brands, as it anticipated annual trading profit to be at the upper end of market expectations.

St Albans, Hertfordshire-based Premier Foods is a maker of branded and non-branded food, including Mr Kipling cakes, Oxo stock cubes, and Loyd Grossman cooking sauces.

The firm said sales in the third quarter were up 4.2% at GBP375.1 million from GBP360.1 million a year ago.

Notably, branded revenue rose 5.3% to GBP314.8 million from GBP298.9 million, while non-branded revenue declined 1.5% to GBP60.3 million from GBP61.2 million.

Year-to-date sales as at December 27 were 2.1% higher at GBP877.1 million from GBP858.8 million. This was led by a 3.2% rise in branded sales to GBP767.4 million from GBP743.6 million, while non-branded sales fell 4.7% to GBP109.7 million from GBP115.2 million.

Chief Executive Officer Alex Whitehouse said: "We had a really good Christmas with 5.2% branded revenue growth, accelerating our trend from the previous quarter. These results demonstrated strong delivery against all pillars of our strategy, with consumers continuing to choose our brands for their quality and value. Both our Grocery and Sweet Treats businesses made strong progress in the period, and we returned to double-digit revenue growth overseas with particularly good performances in Australia and the US."

The firm said it expects to deliver trading profit for the financial year ending March 28 at the upper end of market expectations, which are between GBP193.0 million and GBP198.2 million. The upper end would be 5.5% higher than headline trading profit of GBP187.8 million Premier Foods had reported for financial year 2025.

Premier Foods shares rose 6.6% to 180.27 pence each on Wednesday morning in London.

By Tom Budszus, Alliance News slot editor

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