Reykjavik / IS. (bkg) Islandic Bakkavor Group, the United Kingdom´s leading fresh prepared foods manufacturer, announced its results for the first quarter 2015 – the 13 weeks ended 28. March. Highlights: Encouraging growth in revenue and Adjusted Ebitda margin reflecting productivity improvements and further progress from our International business. Leverage ratio maintained at 3.9 times through improved trading performance and strong cash conversion. Completed refinancing in April with interest savings on an annualised basis. Successful integration of US acquisition, increasing the customer base and manufacturing presence.
. | Q1/2015 | Q1/2014 | Change |
Revenue | 425.5 million GBP | 407.9 million GBP | 04 percent |
Like-for-like Revenue | 425.9 million GBP | 412.3 million GBP | 03 percent |
Adjusted Ebitda | 027.3 million GBP | 023.7 million GBP | 15 percent |
Adjusted Ebitda margin | 06.4 percent | 05.8 percent | 60 bps |
Free cash flow | (5.5) million GBP | (14.3) million GBP | 8.8 million GBP |
Commenting on the results, Chief Executive Agust Gudmundsson said: «We continued the Group´s positive performance through this latest quarter with a year on year improvement in revenues, margin and cash generation. Our strategy of focusing on the UK, US and Asia is working well and we are excited about our recent US acquisition, the first for the Group since 2008».
Outlook : Against the backdrop of recovering consumer confidence and continuing low inflation, the Group has delivered a strong first quarter. Despite this, we expect ongoing challenges in the UK grocery market as our customers respond to unprecedented structural changes. With this in mind, we remain focused on our successful strategic priorities of close partnering with our customers and investing across the Group to drive growth, reinforcing our technical excellence and leading product innovation.