London / UK. (pf) British Premier Foods PLC released its Half Year Results for the 26 weeks ended 01 October 2022. Summary:
Financial headlines
Headline measures (excluding The Spice Tailor)
- Group revenue up +6.2 percent, Q2 revenue up +6.4 percent
- Branded revenue growth up +3.9 percent in H1 and +3.6 percent in Q2
- Trading profit up +6.2 percent, margins maintained in line with prior year
- Adjusted profit before tax up +11.9 percent, adjusted earnings per share up +11.4 percent
Statutory measures (including The Spice Tailor)
- Group revenue up +6.6 percent
- Statutory profit before tax up +37.1 percent
- Basic earnings per share of 4.2 GBPence, up +68.0 percent
- Combined pensions surplus of GBP 961.8 million, up +1.8 percent compared to 02 April 2022
Strategic and operational headlines
- Branded growth model delivered 5.0 percent average UK branded revenue growth over last three years
- Gross margins in line with last year as input cost inflation offset by cost savings and increased pricing
- International revenue growth up +11 percent with broad based growth in target markets
- Doubled new categories revenue through brand extensions including Rubs and Marinades, Ice-cream and Porridge
- Completed highly complementary acquisition of The Spice Tailor
- On track to deliver full year expectations
Chief Executive’s Commentary
Alex Whitehouse, Chief Executive Officer: «We have again made very good financial and strategic progress in the first half of this year, reporting strong Group and branded revenue growth in what continues to be a challenging environment. Our margins were in line with last year, and we delivered adjusted PBT growth of nearly 12 percent due to our consistently good trading performance and lower interest costs following our refinancing in H1 last year. We continue to deliver against our five pillar growth strategy: our UK Branded revenue has now grown 5 percent on average over the last three years; we continue to invest in our supply chain to drive efficiencies; revenue from extending our brands into new categories more than doubled, and International revenue increased by 11 percent. Additionally, we have welcomed the highly complementary brand The Spice Tailor into our portfolio in the first half; our first acquisition for over 15 years. The financial resilience of the Group is illustrated by our strong underlying cash generation, our 2026 dated fixed rate bonds following our 2021 refinancing, continued commitment to a leverage target of 1.5x and limited direct exposure to the US Dollar.»
