Trading Update

Premier Foods plc 10 May 2007 Premier Foods plc AGM statement Premier Foods ('Premier') is making the following trading update in advance of its Annual General Meeting, which will be held today at 11am, at Haberdashers' Hall, 18 West Smithfield, London EC1A 9HQ. Premier 2007 trading Sales for January to March were in line with our expectations, although sales in April have been impacted by the unusually warm weather. Our growth expectations for the business for 2007 are unchanged, particularly against the backdrop of the hot summer of 2006. We are pleased to have significantly reduced the decline in sales that the Campbell's portfolio was experiencing before its acquisition. We have a major re-launch planned for Batchelor's and Oxo in the second half of this year supported by exciting innovation, which we are confident will increase the positive momentum already established for the brands. We completed the acquisition of RHM on 16 March and have begun its integration into Premier. We remain excited about the opportunities that the combination of these two businesses bring for brand development and improved efficiency and are encouraged as we learn more about the underlying business, brands and people. RHM 2006/7 trading Results for RHM will be consolidated into Premier's results from 16 March 2007, the date the acquisition completed. The following update is for the 12 months ended 28 April 2007, which was RHM's 2006/7 financial year. We anticipate that, overall, sales for RHM for 2006/7 will be slightly ahead of those for its 2005/6 financial year. As previously indicated, trading profits were impacted by the increase in wheat prices in the autumn of 2006 and softer trading in the culinary brands business due to the extended period of warmer weather in the second half of 2006. This has been partly offset by the continued strong recovery of the Cakes division. Bread Bakeries achieved price increases in February, which offset the higher wheat prices from that point onwards. The relaunch of Kingsmill, one of Hovis' major competitors, supported by deep-price promotions has destabilised the market over March and April. However, early indications show that as Kingsmill promotions have ended, Hovis' market share has returned to its former levels, reflecting the strength of the Hovis brand. Trading for Culinary Brands has continued in line with its performance in the first half of the RHM 2006/7 financial year. Sales and trading profit have, like the Premier base business, been impacted by the unusually hot weather in April. The Cakes division continued to progress with strong sales, trading profit and margin growth and improved market share, driven by double digit sales growth for Mr Kipling. Customer Partnerships continued to make steady progress with sales and operating profits for this division marginally ahead for the RHM 2006/7 financial year. RHM integration We are pleased to welcome Miles Warnick, Tim Kelly and Mark Hughes to the executive management team at Premier. Miles and Tim will continue in their roles as Chief Operating Officers of the Bread Bakeries and the Cakes & Customer Partnerships divisions respectively. Mark has been appointed as Group Procurement Director for the whole of Premier. Following completion of the acquisition we have reviewed the scope and timing of our cost synergy estimates and have confirmed the achievability of the £85m annual savings targeted. We have announced a proposal to close the RHM head office in Marlow, which is planned to be completed by the end of June 2007. We have also moved rapidly to commence the full integration of the Culinary Brands business and have announced proposals to close its head office in Addlestone. We have developed new organisational structures combining the Premier and Culinary Brands operations and consultation with affected staff is underway. We have initiated a review of the manufacturing network of the combined businesses covering the Premier ambient factories, the Culinary Brands factories and Ledbury preserves. In order to optimise the level of synergies, we have put on hold the closure of our Ashford factory, scheduled for June 2008, whilst we conduct the review due to the high degree of overlap between it and some of the RHM sites' capabilities. We anticipate that this review will be completed by the end of May 2007, following which we will communicate any proposals to employees. The closure of the Campbell's King's Lynn site will proceed as planned and is scheduled to be completed by December 2007. We intend to release results for RHM restated into calendar first half and second half 2006 in June 2007, bringing them into line with Premier reporting. Campbell's integration The integration of all the Campbell's administration functions has now been completed, on schedule and to budget, with the closure of the office in Cambourne at the end of April. The current synergy run rate confirms the anticipated £7m of cost synergies scheduled to be delivered in 2007 and we remain confident that the total of £28m of annual cost synergies identified will be delivered in full and in line with the schedule previously communicated. Enquiries: Premier Foods plc Tel: 01727 815 850 Robert Schofield, Chief Executive Paul Thomas, Finance Director Gwyn Tyley, Investor Relations Manager Citigate Dewe Rogerson Tel: 020 7638 9571 Michael Berkeley Justin Griffiths Nicola Smith This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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