UK food company Premier Foods has released its preliminary results for the 52 weeks ended 30th March 2024, reporting a “really strong year” as revenue and profits increased.
Premier Foods, which owns brands such as Ambrosia, Bisto, Cadbury and Mr Kipling, revealed that its UK branded revenue had increased by 13.6% on the year, while its profit after tax reached £112.5 million, up 22.8% on the year.
Headline revenue totalled £1,122.6 million, a 15.1% increase from the 2022/23 revenue of £975.6 million. Total headline Grocery revenue was up 16.7%, and its Sweet Treats category revenue was up by 10.6%.
Premier Foods’ full year market share increased by 29 basis points, and both Grocery and Sweet Treat grew shares in H2.
Alex Whitehouse, chief executive officer, said: “This has been another really strong year for the business with considerable progress across all our key financial metrics and five pillar growth strategy. In the UK, branded revenue increased by 13.6%, accompanied by 29 basis points of market share gain, as we continued to outperform the market.
“Ambrosia has now become our fourth £100 million brand, in part driven by the premium Ambrosia Deluxe range and the extension into breakfast through porridge pots. Additionally, we continue to work very closely alongside our partner, Nissin, and yet again, Nissin was one of our fastest growing brands having grown by 54% on average over the last five years.”
Whitehouse said that the company would continue to invest in its manufacturing sites, while expansion into new categories was proving to be “particularly successful”. Revenue grew by over 70%, reportedly led by Ambrosia porridge, and international sales grew by 12%.
Whitehouse stated: “We recently announced the suspension of pension deficit contributions, significantly increasing our free cash flow, which enhances our ability to invest in infrastructure and pursue M&A opportunities to deliver future growth. We have a strong set of plans for this year, across each of our strategic pillars and with our return to volume growth, we are on track to deliver on full year expectations.”
Premier Foods said it was “on track for FY 24/25 expectations”, while the Group expects to return to volume driven revenue growth in 2024. It said that further progress was “expected to be delivered” across all the Group’s strategic pillars.
