Dublin / IR. (gg) Greencore Group PLC, a leading international convenience food business, issues a trading update covering the 13 weeks to 25 December 2015 (Q1/2016).
First quarter Trading
The Group recorded revenue of 356.0 million GBP in the 13 weeks to 25 December 2015, an increase of 7.2 percent on the prior year on a reported basis and of 6.8 percent in constant currency.
Convenience Foods: The Convenience Foods division recorded revenue of 345.1 million GBP, 7.7 percent higher than the prior year on a reported basis and up 7.0 percent in constant currency.
In the UK, revenue was 7.9 percent higher than in the prior year. While the overall UK grocery retail market remains challenging, our core chilled categories continue to perform well. Our strong growth was driven by the annualisation of prior year business wins together with the impact of new product launches. The construction of a new production facility on the Northampton campus is nearing completion with commissioning on track to commence in the spring.
In the US, reported revenue was 6.5 percent higher than in the prior year and 1.3 percent higher in constant currency. Revenue was in line with expectations following the closure of the Brockton facility in November and the related further product and customer exits. Progress continues to be made on ramping up production capability in the Quonset, Rhode Island facility and the construction in Seattle is progressing to plan.
Ingredients and Property: The Ingredients and Property division, which now represents less than 5 percent of Group activity, recorded revenues of 10.9 million GBP in Q1, 0.7 million GBP or 6.0 percent lower on a reported basis and 3.4 percent higher on a constant currency basis.
Outlook
The business has had a good start to the year and our major investments in capacity and capability enhancement are proceeding to plan. We remain confident in our ability to deliver performance in line with market expectations.
