LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Mr Kipling and Bisto owner Premier Foods said on Wednesday that annual revenue and trading profit are set to be ahead of expectations following a strong first quarter, amid a rise in home cooking amid lockdown.
In the year to 28 March 2020, pre-tax profit was up 6% to £93.3m as group revenue ticked up 2.8% to £847.1m. Trading profit increased 3.2% to £132.6m and adjusted earnings per share edged 5.4% higher to 8.9p.

Premier Foods said that in the UK, its brands grew ahead of their categories, and the business has now delivered 11 consecutive quarters of revenue growth.

Chief executive Alex Whitehouse said: "We have now grown group revenues, trading profit and adjusted earnings for each of the last three years, driven by our successful branded growth model of delivering insightful new product innovation together with emotionally engaging advertising and building strategic retailer partnerships.

"A good example of the growth model delivering results is our biggest brand Mr Kipling which two years after a major relaunch achieved its highest ever annual sales. Most of our other major brands also grew revenues in the year and sales of Nissin branded products nearly doubled."

Premier highlighted "particularly strong" trading in the first quarter as it benefited from high levels of demand for items relating to meal preparation, including cooking sauces, gravy and baking ingredients, as Britain "got cooking again" during the coronavirus lockdown. The company said first-quarter group revenues are set to increase by about 20% compared to the prior year.

As a result, it now expects to exceed current expectations for FY20/21 revenue and trading profit, despite incurring some additional operational costs across its supply chain. However, it did concede that it remains unclear how consumers' eating habits may change as lockdown measures ease over the coming weeks.

At 0805 BST, the shares were up 4% at 62p.

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