Greencore on track to deliver full year expectations

Revenues at London-listed convenience food group Greencore increased by 6.7 per cent to £326.4 million €412.6 million) inthe 13 weeks to June 27th, buoyed by strong growth in its convenience foods division and a buoyant “food to go” market in the UK

In a statement, Greencore said that the group “continues to trade well” and it remain confident in its ability to deliver adjusted EPS growth for the financial year in line with market expectations.

The group’s convenience foods division recorded revenue of £310.5 milion, 8.7 per cent higher than the prior year on a reported basis and up 9.3 per cent on a like for like basis.

In the UK, despite a challenging grocery market, like for like revenue was 10.1 per cent higher than in the prior year.The “food to go” market was buoyant throughout the period, Greencore said, driven in part by growth in small store formats.

In the US, the group grew revenues by 16.9 per cent, including the contribution from Lettieri’s, the Minnesota food to go manufacturer it acquired in February.

Greencore’s Jacksonville facility extension has now been completed with first customer shipments delivered in late July, while construction has commenced on the new facility in Rhode Island, with the project on track for commissioning in late spring 2015.

The group also disclosed that it has agreed to sell residential land in Littlehampton, West Sussex for about £16.5 million, but it has retained land with commercial planning consent and will look to market this by 2017.

“While this will result in a non-cash charge of approximately £3.5 million against the carrying value of investment property, the resolution of other legacy matters in the half will fully offset this amount,” the company said.

“The group is operating with good headroom within existing debt facilities and remains focused on further de-leveraging whilst taking opportunities to invest in future development in support of its customers”.