Top story
Premier Foods has posted a 5.3% rise in first quarter sales, boosted by volume growth and market share gains across its branded portfolio.
For the 13 weeks to 29 June, Premier’s overall sales wre up 5.3%, with branded sales up 7.3% in the period.
The group said it saw volume growth and market share gains in both grocery and sweet treats, which saw branded sales rise 8.6% and 3.5% respectively.
Overall grocery sales were up 7.1% in the quarter, with volume-led growth due to continued strong execution of the branded growth model and partly reflecting sharper promotional pricing.
Premier said many of its grocery brands delivered “substantial” growth, with Nissin and The Spice Tailor both contributing strongly to performance in the quarter.
New product development in the period included Loyd Grossman Tomato & Mascarpone cooking sauce and The Spice Tailor Chinese kits, with new categories revenue increasing by 68% in the period.
Non-branded revenue declined 5.1% partly due to consumers switching to brands and some contract exits.
Sweet Treats was up 0.4% to £59.9m in the quarter, with branded share gains reflecting more competitive promotional pricing of brands, winning consumers at the expense of own label.
Mr Kipling Signature Brownie Bites continues to perform well in market and in-store execution of both Mr Kipling and Cadbury cake was also a strong contributor of growth in the period.
Non-branded sales were 16% lower reflecting the movement of consumers to brands and the impact of contract exits.
Overseas sales increased by 24% compared with the prior year. In particular, North America revenue grew by 21% as Mr Kipling cake was rolled out across 800 stores in Canada and the first sales of The Spice Tailor commenced in the US. EMEA delivered revenue growth of 6%, while revenue also increased “substantially” in Australia, following the launch of new family-size Sharwood’s Indian cooking sauces while benefiting from a softer comparative period in cake.
For the full year, Premier expects to deliver further volume led branded sales growth, progress against its strategic pillars and full-year expectations for FY24/25 are unchanged.
Following the suspension of deficit contribution payments, the group said it had a number of options to invest in the business at attractive returns to increase efficiency and innovation, while continuing to explore M&A opportunities.
CEO Alex Whitehouse commented: “We’ve delivered another quarter of strong branded sales growth, yet again demonstrating the strength of our portfolio and the effectiveness of our branded growth model.
“During the quarter, we have gained both value and volume market share in Grocery and Sweet Treats, as more shoppers bought more of our leading brands, delivering good volume growth across our categories. Mr Kipling, Nissin and The Spice Tailor were standout performers, and we continued to launch new products across the portfolio. International sales grew by 24%, with strong growth in each of our overseas regions, and sales from new categories increased by 68%, led by Ambrosia porridge pots and Angel Delight ice cream.”
“As we look forward to the rest of the year, we have a strong set of marketing and product innovation plans for our brands in the UK and Ireland, while we continue to build distribution internationally. We expect to see more volume led branded sales growth in the coming quarters, further progress overseas and our expectations for the full year remain unchanged.”
Premier Foods shares are up 0.4% this morning to 172.1p.
Morning update
Spirits group The Artisanal Spirits Company has posted a trading update for the six months ended 30 June 2024.
It said the positive profit improvement momentum it saw in the second half of 2023 has continued in the first six months of this year, with a £1m year on year increase in EBITDA year on year.
The trading conditions and consumer purchasing behaviour witnessed last year have continued and the group continues to focus on maintaining a “high quality, committed and engaged global membership which will underpin sustainable, long-term revenue and profit growth”.
Group revenue was broadly flat year on year, with membership was broadly stable while costs were reduced.
It continues to focus on delivering consensus EBITDA of £1m, with its priorities remaining driving quality membership growth through international development and initiatives such as ‘Membership and a Bottle’, a product range review which will simplify and optimise its offer to members and continued cost efficiency management.
On the markets this morning, the FTSE 100 has opened up 0.7% to 8,243.4pts.
Early risers include Nichols, up 1.8% to 1,027.8p, Tate & Lyle, up 1.7% to 644p and PZ Cussons, up 1.5% to 107.2p.
Fallers include Hilton Food Group, down 1.9% to 896p, Cranswick, down 1.9% to 4,510p and C&C Group, down 2% to 157.8p.
Yesterday in the City
The FTSE 100 closed yesterday up 0.3% to 8,187.5pts.
Risers yesterday included McBride, up 3.2% to 131p, Domino’s Pizza Group, up 2.4% to 328.2p, Reckitt Benckiser, up 1.9% to 4,359p, PayPoint, up 1.7% to 655p and SSP Group, up 1.6% to 182p.
Fallers included THG, down 3.6% to 65.1p, Greencore, down 1.7% to 175p, PZ Cussons, down 1.5% to 104p, B&M European Value Retail, down 1.3% to 460p, Kerry Group, down 1% to €77.80 and Premier Foods, down 0.9% to 171.4p.
No comments yet