Daily Telegraph17 Jul 2015 10:07
Buy into baker Finsbury Food while the shares are still rising: One of the U.K.’s largest bakery companies, Finsbury makes cakes, speciality breads and morning goods, such as croissants and rolls, for the U.K.’s supermarkets, cafes, wholesalers and restaurants. It has licences with Disney, Nestle, Marvel and Thorntons and has had particular success with its Spiderman and Frozen-themed party cakes. A few years ago, however, Finsbury embarked on a major restructuring programme to bolster its balance sheet and turn around what was then a struggling business creaking under a pile of debt. Admittedly, consumer markets remain challenging and the well-documented problems affecting the supermarket sector - still a major customer for the group - show no signs of abating. Finsbury is also increasing capital spending this year as it integrates Fletchers and Johnstones. However, Finsbury is now a larger, more diversified business and that should help it ride out any short-term hurdles. Finsbury is also set to reap the benefits that come with scale and a bigger distribution network. The group expects to outperform its profit targets, leading analysts to upgrade full-year forecasts. That doesn’t reflect the potential of recent acquisitions, the strong organic growth profile and the opportunity for Finsbury to make further acquisitions in an industry ripe for consolidation. Questor says Buy.