Creightons Regulatory News (CRL)

 Creightons plc Group

Interim financial report

For the six months ended 30 September 2013

Chairman's Statement

The Group has made considerable progress in the first half of the year recording improved profit before tax of £153,000 in the six months to 30 September 2013 (2012: £38,000).

The profit improvement came on the back of increased sales which rose by 16% to £9,738,000 (2012: £8,374,000). The sales improvement largely arose from new private label range launches with key retailers and significant promotional activity. Some of this is of a one off nature and may not be repeated in the second half of the year.

Our gross margins are 40.2% in the six months to 30 September 2013 (2012: 42.0%). Sales mix is the main reason for this reduction with lower sales in North America and new product launches at lower margins. Raw material price increases have not been a significant factor in the period. We are focusing efforts to improve our margins through product re-engineering, targeted investment in inventory and investment in plant and machinery which will improve output at lower costs.

We have continued to review our sales strategy in the period and have trimmed a number of brands/products considered peripheral to our core activity. This has resulted in lower levels of more focused new product development activity in the period. We continue to see opportunities to develop our brands in overseas markets and to develop good quality products at a competitive price in the UK. We intend to increase resources and investments to achieve these two goals.

We continue to be cautious regarding the underlying level of retail sales and consider that consumers in the UK will continue to be focused on value. This will present sales opportunities but may impact on margins.

From a working capital perspective stock levels have fallen over the period against a background of increasing sales. We anticipate some increase in stocks over the coming months to support new launch activity. Sales growth has resulted in an increase in debtors with debtor days remaining constant compared to last year.

Our net cash position at the end of the period has improved with borrowings net of cash falling by £118,000 to £635,000 (2012: £753,000).

I believe that this half year's increased sales of £9,738,000 and pre-tax profit of £153,000 is a good performance and places the Company in a good position to take advantage of any opportunities that may arise.

W O McIlroy

Executive Chairman 8 November 2013

Responsibility statement

We confirm that to the best of our knowledge:

a) The condensed set of financial statements has been prepared in accordance with IAS 34:

b) The interim management report includes a fair review of the information required by DTR 4.2.7R (indication of important events during the first six months and description of principal risks and uncertainties for the remaining six months of the year); and

c) The interim management report includes a fair review of the information required by DTR 4.2.8R (disclosure of material related party transactions and changes therein).

By order of the Board

Nicholas O'Shea

Company Secretary and Director

Creightons plc

Interim financial report

For the six months ended 30 September 2013

Consolidated income statement - unaudited

Earnings per share

Consolidated statement of comprehensive income

Creightons plc

Interim financial report

30 September 2013

Consolidated balance sheet - unaudited

Creightons plc

Interim financial report

For the six months ended 30 September 2013

Statement of changes in shareholders equity - unaudited

Creightons plc

Interim financial report

For the six months ended 30 September 2013

Consolidated cash flow statement - unaudited

Creightons plc

Interim financial report

For the six months ended 30 September 2013

1. Basis of preparation

The condensed financial statements in this Interim Report have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of IAS 34 'Interim Financial Reporting' as adopted by the European Union.

As required by the Disclosure and Transparency Rules of the UK's Financial Conduct Authority, the condensed set of financial statements has been prepared by applying the accounting policies and presentation that were applied in the preparation on the Company's published consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2013, which were prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union.

The condensed interim financial statements for the six months ended 30 September 2013 and the comparative figures for the six months ended 30 September 2012 are unaudited and have not been reviewed by the Auditors. The summary financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2013 represent an abbreviated version of the Group's full financial statements for that year, on which the Auditors issued an unqualified audit report and which have been filed with the Registrar of Companies.

The calculation of the basic and diluted earnings per share is based on the following data:

3. Related party transactions

The related party transactions that occurred in the six months ended 30 September 2013 are not materially different in size or nature to those reported in the Company's Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2013.

4. Availability of Interim Report

The Interim Report is being sent to shareholders. Further copies can be obtained from the Company's Registered Office, 1210 Lincoln Road, Peterborough, PE4 6ND.