Dairy firm Dairy Crest has said that it expects its profit for the half year ‘to be slightly ahead of the same period last year’, when it announces its interim results on 7 November.
The group has issued a pre-close trading statement for the half year to 30 September, in which it said that it expects group revenue to be up on the same period last year, driven largely by its two main brands, Cathedral City and Clover.
Brand Performance
It said that Cathedral City is ‘going from strength to strength’, and is expected to ‘deliver good growth against strong volumes a year ago’.
Clover is set to deliver both volume and revenue growth, meanwhile, continuing the ‘positive performance’ the brand recorded last year.
Its Frylight brand, however, is expected to show a decrease in volume, as a result of the hot summer.
Innovation Focus
The company said that it remains focused on innovation, and is aiming to deliver 10% of its revenues from products developed within the past three years.
In the 2017/18 financial year, some 14% of revenues came from recent innovations.
“Our Cathedral City and Clover brands continue to drive the business forward, supported by an exciting pipeline of new product developments,” commented Mark Allen, the company’s chief executive.
"Innovation is the cornerstone of this business and we're looking forward to showcasing a number of examples at our Capital Markets event this week.”
Allen added that the company’s balance sheet is “in good shape and we are moving forward with the first phase of the expansion at Davidstow.
“Our expectations for the full year remain unchanged."
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
