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UK food giant 2 Sisters has increased like-for-like sales in its third quarter by 1.1% to £798.7m as the frozen division performed strongly as the group invested further in future growth.
The group, owned by Ranjit Singh Boparan, also turned pre-tax losses of £14.7m in the same period a year ago into profits of £16.3m thanks to a reduction in exceptional items as 2 Sisters went through major restructuring.
However, total sales slipped backed 3.9% in the period to £779.7m and operating profit was flat at £18.9m.
“This is an encouraging performance and in line with expectations,” CEO Ranjit Singh said. “It underlines our commitment to focus on building a better business which leads the food sector and is passionate about putting customers and consumers first.
“We have said targeted investment will be the key to our future growth, and I’m pleased to announce plans for continued investment in our protein business with further plans being finalised for investment in our chilled division. These investments will take our performance and ranges to the next level.”
Morning update
Independent butchery chain Crawshaw Group (CRAW) said in a market update this morning ahead of its AGM that like-for-like sales were up 2.3% in the eight weeks since 23 April – building on the 6.4% rise achieved in the same period last year. Chairman Richard Rose said: “This strong trading performance is spread across our combined store portfolio and we have seen positive growth in both customer numbers and average spend.
“Under the leadership of our new CEO Noel Collett, the board continue to build and develop the resource, infrastructure and initiatives to grow sales within the existing estate and deliver the roll out strategy in a controlled and disciplined manner. It is a very exciting time for the business and we look to the future with great confidence.”
Shares in the group jumped by 8% to 67p when the market opened but have since settled back to 1.7% higher than yesterday’s close at 63.6p.
Yesterday in the City
Thorntons (THT) shares leapt 42.9% yesterday to 145p following an offer by Italian chocolate maker Ferrero which valued the company at £112m. The share price reflects the offer price made by the manufacturer of Kinder Surprise and Ferrero Rocher. It is a significant premium (42.9%) on Friday’s closing price of 101.5p. Thorntons board has enthusiastically waved through the deal, but Ferrero still has to reach the magic number of 75% of the company’s shares. It has currently agreed to buy about 40% from directors such as outgoing CEO Jonathan Hart and activist fund Crystal Amber.
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