Premier Foods records strongest sales growth in five years

UK food manufacturer Premier Foods has recorded its strongest full-year sales growth in five years for the 52-week period that ended on 31 March 2018.

Company revenue rose by 3.6% for the year to £819.2m, attributed to a strong performance by its non-branded food product sales. Specifically, grocery sales increased by 12.1% and sweet treats sales by 16.9%. International sales rose by 25%.

In comparison, branded grocery sales grew 3.4% to £498m, led by its Batchelors brand’s increased revenue of 10.6%, supported by the launch of Super Noodles pots and Pasta ‘n’ Sauce pots.

Sweet treats sales rose by 1.2% to £230m on last year. Branded sales were down 3.2%, however, triggered by lower branded cake sales.

Premier’s adjusted profit before tax grew by 5.9% from £74.2m to £78.6m since last year. Operating profit rose by 12.7% to £69.3m primarily due to a reduction in restructuring costs from 15.8m to £8.5m. Net debt was also reduced by £26.8m.

Premier chief executive Gavin Darby noted three performance drivers, namely innovation, international business opportunities, and its key partnerships with Nissin and Mondelēz International.

Darby said: “International has been the star performer with sales growing +25%, and are almost double the level of three years ago, while the benefits from our Nissin and Mondelēz International partnerships together contributed 55% of our revenue growth.”

“In the year ahead, we expect to make further progress on our key priorities, building on the strong momentum we created in 2017/18.”

Independent investment group Shore Capital head of research Clive black said he was pleased to see these levels of growth in the company, saying: “Clearly a lot of hard work has come to the forefront here, noting sustained effort to improve efficiency, the product portfolio and the market penetration.

“It is particularly pleasing to see internationalisation coming through for the Group especially in Australia.”

Premier is also among the members of the Food and Drink Federation that pledged to reduce levels of salt, sugar, and calories in its products.