FIF.L Regulatory News (FIF)

Finsbury Food Group Plc

Pre-Close Trading Statement

Finsbury Food Group Plc (AIM: FIF), a leading UK speciality bakery manufacturer of cake, bread and morning goods for both the retail and 'out of home eating' foodservice channels, is today providing an update on trading for the full financial year, ended 30 June 2018, prior to entering its close period.

Total Group sales revenues grew on a like for like* basis to £290.2m, an increase of 2.4% on the prior year. Due to the prior year benefitting from the full 12 months trading of the bakeries closed in the first half of the year, total Group revenue, including the closed businesses, declined 3.4% to £303.6m. The Group is confident of delivering profits in line with market expectations.

The core UK Bakery division grew 2.8% on a like for like* basis, which is ahead of the wider market. The Overseas division, the Group's 50% owned European business, declined by 0.7%.

In what has been a very challenging environment with unprecedented commodity and labour inflation, the Group has done well to recover those cost pressures through a combination of operational efficiency and price recovery and at the same time, accelerating the reshaping of its asset footprint to drive further efficiency.

Looking ahead, the current UK economic environment remains challenging and is showing little sign of abating from the levels experienced and reported in previous statements. Nonetheless, the Board believes the Group remains well positioned to maintain its market leading position, continuing to utilise its strong balance sheet to invest in innovation and efficiency, to continue to deliver growth and improved shareholder value over the period ahead.

*like for like revenue is the revenue from operations excluding the revenue from the closed bakeries during the first half of the current year

John Duffy, Chief Executive of Finsbury Food Group plc, commented:

"We are pleased with the resilient performance of the Group in what has once again been a period of market-wide inflationary pressure, illustrating that the work and investment undertaken in prior periods has continued to bear fruit. The Group is robust, well diversified and in a strong position to continue to deliver on its strategic objectives in the period ahead."

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Notes to editors:

· Finsbury Food Group Plc (AIM: FIF) is a leading UK manufacturer of cake and bread bakery goods, supplying a broad range of blue chip customers within both the grocery retail and 'out of home eating' foodservice sectors including major multiples and leading foodservice providers.

· The Company is one of the largest speciality bakery groups in the UK and, with its Overseas division, has sales in the financial year ending 1 July 2017 exceeding £300m.

· The Company's bakery product range is comprehensive and includes:

o Large premium and celebration cakes.

o Small snacking cake formats such as cake slices and bites.

o Artisan, healthy lifestyle and organic breads through to rolls, muffins (sweet and savoury) and morning pastries, all of which are available both fresh and frozen dependent on customer channel requirements.

· The Company is one of the largest ambient cake manufacturers in the UK, a market valued at over £950 million (source: IRI, 52 w/e 23rd June 2018). The annual retail bread and morning goods market has a value of £4.3 billion (source: Kantar Worldpanel 52 w/e 17th June 2018). The UK foodservice bread and savoury morning goods bakery sector is worth approximately £691 million per annum. The UK foodservice cake and sweet morning goods bakery sector is worth approximately £807 million per annum (UK foodservice data derived from MCA 52 w/e 31st March 2018).

· The Company comprises a UK Bakery division and an Overseas division:

o The UK Bakery division has manufacturing sites in Cardiff, East Kilbride, Hamilton, Salisbury, Sheffield and Manchester.

o The Overseas division comprises the Company's 50% owned company, Lightbody Stretz Ltd, which supplies and distributes the Group's UK-manufactured products and third party products, primarily to Europe.