Bakery and cakes supplier Finsbury Food Group has posted a 3.4% decline in revenues for full-year 2017/18, of £303.6 million.
The company said, however, that if its loss-making Grain D'Or factory, which has since closed, is excluded, revenues were up 2.4%.
Similarly, statutory profit before tax at the business fell by 65.7%, however again this was associated with one-off closure costs. On an adjusted basis, profit was up 4.0%.
In a statement, Finsbury Food Group said that it 'delivered a resilient performance in an unprecedented inflationary environment with growth in like for like sales and in adjusted profit in a year where the company closed a loss making bakery'.
Capital Expenditure
The group made a capital investment of £12.6 million for the period, meaning that it has now invested more than £50 million in its operations over the past five years.
It installed a new 'automated craft' sharing cake line in its Cardiff facility, as well as rolling out a new business-wide IT platform to three of its sites, with a further three sites earmarked for FY 2019.
It also rolled out new products in the period, including a Free From bakery brand, as well as expanding products under the Mary Berry licence.
Since period end, the group has acquired Ultrapharm Limited, a gluten free bakery manufacturer, for £17 million in cash at completion plus £3 million of deferred consideration.
"Our performance over the period has further illustrated the Group's resilience and our ability to deliver against our strategic priorities, ultimately allowing us to grow like for like sales and profit year on year, reduce our debt further after significant investment, and continue to grow the dividend," said John Duffy, the group's chief executive.
"The ongoing capital investment programme and relentless efficiency focus of recent years has enabled us to not only cope with this challenging market environment but also maintain our margin."
Changing Marketplace
The company did note that the year was one of a 'stable' trading performance, in the face of 'unprecedented' commodity price inflation, particularly for butter.
It said that while some years ago, the business may have struggled with the level of volatility in the marketplace, recent diversification and investment puts it in the better position going forward.
Commenting on the group's ongoing investment in its operations, Duffy added that the business has "continued to drive product innovation with the launch of both our Mary Berry cake brand with a number of product formats across a broad customer base and also our own Free From brand in Europe, Wiso.
"Complementing this, and in line with our strategy to diversify the Group by category, channel and geography, we were delighted to complete the acquisition of Ultrapharm, which will provide the Group with a significant opportunity to access the exciting and high growth marketplace, Free From, and broadens the Group's manufacturing capabilities into Europe.
"We are confident that we are well positioned to deliver on our strategic objectives and capitalise on growth opportunities both organically and through future M&A."
© 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.
