Northern Foods, whose Irish brands include Donegal Catch and Green Isle, posted a slightly better than feared 5.4 per cent drop in full-year profit and said it was selling more discount and value products due to the economic downturn.
The company, which supplies branded and private-label food to retailers such as Marks & Spencer today posted a pretax profit of £47.5 million pounds on sales 4.6 per cent higher at £975.2 million pounds for the year ended March 28th.
The firm, whose business with discount retailers now accounts for some 20 per cent of group sales, said next year would be tough with food inflation and competitive pressures likely to continue.
Shares in the company, which have risen in value by a quarter in the last three months, closed at £60.75 pence yesterday, valuing the group at around £290 million.
Reuters