Real Good Food: Trading performance in line expectations

Liverpool / UK. (rgf) British Real Good Food Company PLC, the diversified food group, owns Napier Brown (Europe´s biggest non-refining sugar distributor) as well as Renshaw and R+W Scott (bakery ingredients), Garrett Ingredients (dairy ingredients) and Haydens Bakery (patisserie and desserts). At the Company´s 2013 Annual General Meeting, Pieter Totté, Executive Chairman, made the following comments: «It is less than three months since I announced our positive trading performance for the twelve months ended 31 March 2013, with a significant improvement in profitability, Ebitda up 24 percent to 10,5 million GBP and especially pleasing performances at Haydens and R+W Scott. We were also able to report a reduction in net debt to 25,0 million GBP, down approximately 13 percent on the prior year, as well the completion of our refinancing exercise. Since then we have been focusing on the three major initiatives I shared with you: investment in our sugar handling hub near Immingham, which will be operational in the next quarter; our focus on brands, with Whitworths gaining significant new retail listings, Renshaw´s presence being established in Europe and the US, and R+W Scott implementing its retail strategy. Underpinning all of this, I am continuing to drive the businesses to be more market-led, investing further in sales and marketing management to help realize the growth opportunities faster and more effectively. Trading performance for the first half of the year has been in line with the Board´s expectations, with year-on-year trends reflecting the level of planned investment outlined above».