Mr Kipling maker plans price cuts as cost inflation eases
It came as Premier Foods revealed that revenues grew by 19.2% to £484.4 million for the six months to September 30.
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Your support makes all the difference.Mr Kipling and Ambrosia maker Premier Foods has said it will start reducing prices across some of its products after witnessing falling cost inflation.
The company, which also makes Bisto and Angel Delight, saw shares move higher after it said cost improvements were set to drive a jump in profits.
It comes after a year which has seen rampant food price inflation for shoppers after higher energy, supply chain and labour costs hit manufacturers.
Premier Foods said on Thursday it has also benefited from cost reductions and efficiency efforts.
Alex Whitehouse, chief executive of the food firm, said: “We know how challenging the past year has been for many consumers and so it’s good to see the rate of input cost inflation falling.
“This has now given us the opportunity to lower promotional prices across a number of our major branded products such as Batchelors Super Noodles and Mr Kipling Slices.”
It came as the company revealed that revenues grew by 19.2% to £484.4 million for the six months to September 30.
The firm said it was boosted by price increases as well as improving volumes in its branded grocery division.
This sales growth helped drive a 19% increase in trading profit to £67.5 million for the half-year. It said it therefore expects trading profits for the year to be around a tenth higher than last year, improving upon its previous guidance.
We see more growth potential to come from organic development in the UK, increased distribution in its international markets, as well as the eventual cash flow benefit from pension contributions falling out
Premier said its future sales growth would also be boosted by its recent acquisitions.
Mr Whitehouse added: “We’re very pleased to have recently acquired the vibrant breakfast brand FUEL10K, providing us with the ideal platform to accelerate our expansion into breakfast and deploy our branded growth model, while The Spice Tailor is on track this year to deliver returns ahead of our original acquisition plan.
“With a strong first half behind us, a good start to quarter three and exciting plans for the rest of the year, we are again raising our trading profit expectations for full-year 2023/24, following our previous upgrade earlier this year.”
Analysts at Shore Capital said: “We are pleased to once again record a very good overall trading performance from Premier, noting upside to come from any improvement in its branded sweet treats activity over the next 12-18 months.
“The branded grocery performance has, to us, been truly outstanding. However, we also see more growth potential to come from organic development in the UK, increased distribution in its international markets, as well as the eventual cash flow benefit from pension contributions falling out.”