Greencore Reports Raise in Sales

29 Jul 2015 --- Greencore Group plc issues its interim management statement for the period to 28 July 2015. Trading information relates to the 13 weeks to 26 June 2015 (“Quarter 3” or “Q3”) and the 39 weeks to 26 June 2015.

Quarter 3 Trading
The Group recorded revenue of £346.5m in the 13 weeks to 26 June 2015, an increase of 6.2% on the prior year on both a reported and a like for like basis.

Convenience Foods
The Convenience Foods division recorded revenue of £331.9m, 6.9% higher than the prior year on a reported basis and up 6.3% on a like for like basis.
 
In the UK, like for like revenue was 4.0% higher than in the prior year.  The food to go business continued to experience good growth led principally by the addition of new product lines in the Northampton facility.  Elsewhere in the UK, revenue performance was more subdued. 
 
In the US, like for like revenue was 22.1% higher than the prior year.  This was driven principally by the roll out of new lines with our principal customers.  The business remains focused on the delivery of major capacity related initiatives.  The new facility in Quonset, Rhode Island, commenced production in April and the Newburyport facility was closed.  Transfers from the Brockton site will commence during the current quarter to enable the site’s closure later in the year.
 
Ingredients and Property
The Ingredients and Property division, which now represents less than 5% of Group activity, recorded revenues of £14.6m in Q3, 4.4% higher on a constant currency basis and 8.2% lower in actual currency.
 
Year to Date Trading
In the 39 weeks to 26 June 2015, the Group recorded revenue of £986.3m, 4.2% ahead of the prior year on a reported basis and 4.7% ahead on a like for like basis.  Year to date revenue in the Convenience Foods division was £946.6m, 5.4% higher than the prior year on both a reported and a like for like basis.
 
Financial Position
The Group’s financial position remains strong with good headroom within existing facilities.
 
Outlook
The core UK grocery retail market remains challenging with high levels of change.  The combination of modest deflation in ingredients and packaging costs, together with price investment by grocery retailers, has resulted in value growth lagging behind volume in a number of our product markets.  The Group remains focused on delivering exceptional standards for its customers and on the execution of complex capacity increase projects in both the UK and US.   We remain confident in our ability to deliver adjusted EPS growth for the financial year within the range of market expectations.