Pre-Close Trading Update

RNS Number : 1945N

Finsbury Food Group PLC

16 January 2019

 

Date:	16 January 2019
On behalf of:	Finsbury Food Group plc ('Finsbury', 'the Company' or 'the Group')
For immediate release

Finsbury Food Group plc

Pre-Close Trading Statement and Notice of Results

Finsbury Food Group Plc (AIM: FIF), a leading UK speciality bakery manufacturer of cake, bread and morning goods for both the retail and foodservice channels, announces an update on trading for the six months ended 31 December 2018 ("H1").

Total Group sales revenue, on a like for like* basis, were £145.5m during H1, representing a 0.5% increase in comparison to the equivalent prior year period. Due to the prior year benefitting from the trading of the bakeries closed in the first half of the year, total Group revenue, including the closed businesses, declined 3.5% to £152.3m.

Growth in like for like sales was attributed to the Group's core division, UK Bakery, which grew by 1.7%, achieved despite a difficult macro environment with sustained inflationary pressure and which illustrates the importance of the Group's strategic diversification and ongoing investment programme. The Group's Overseas division declined by 8%.

The integration of the Group's recent acquisition, Ultrapharm, is continuing to progress and additional capacity will be delivered by the end of the existing fiscal year, as previously announced.

The Group is now a diverse multi-channel speciality bakery group and despite the market conditions, is well placed to continue to drive efficiency, deliver innovation and maintain its leading position in the market.

*like for like revenue is the revenue from operations excluding the revenue from the closed bakeries and acquired businesses.

Notice of results

The Group will announce its Interim Results for the six months ended 31 December 2018, on Monday 25 February 2019.

Analysts wishing to attend the briefing should contact Alma PR on 020 3405 0205 or email [e-mail] to register.

This announcement contains inside information.

ENDS

Contact:

Finsbury Food Group             John Duffy (Chief Executive) Steve Boyd (Finance Director)	www.finsburyfoods.co.uk	029 20 357 500
Cenkos Securities Max Hartley (Corporate Finance)
Alma PR                              Rebecca Sanders-Hewett Sam Modlin	[e-mail]	020 3405 0205

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 30 June 2018 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 8^th December 2018). The annual retail bread and morning goods market has a value of £4.4 billion (source: Kantar Worldpanel 52 weeks to 30^th December 2018). The UK foodservice bread and savoury morning goods bakery sector is worth approximately £743 million per annum (source: derived from MCA data for 52 weeks to 30^th September 2018). The UK foodservice cake and sweet morning goods bakery sector is worth approximately £913 million per annum (UK foodservice data derived from MCA data for 52 weeks to 30^th September 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.

·      Since the year end date of 30th June 2018, the Company completed the acquisition of Free From baker Ultrapharm, giving the Group a significant opportunity to access an exciting and high growth marketplace and manufacturing facilities in Pontypool in the UK and in Zywiec, Poland.

 

END

 

 

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