Greencore Group plc has released a trading update covering the 13 weeks to 25 December 2015 (“Quarter 1” or “Q1”).
The Group recorded revenue of £356.0m in the 13 weeks to 25 December 2015, an increase of 7.2% on the prior year on a reported basis and of 6.8% in constant currency.
Convenience Foods
The Convenience Foods division recorded revenue of £345.1m, 7.7% higher than the prior year on a reported basis and up 7.0% in constant currency.
In the UK, revenue was 7.9% higher than in the prior year. While it says 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,” it says.
According to Greencore, 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, it says reported revenue was 6.5% higher than in the prior year and 1.3% 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,” it said its update.
Ingredients and Property
Greencore’s Ingredients and Property division, which now represents less than 5% of Group activity, recorded revenues of £10.9m in Q1, £0.7m or 6.0% lower on a reported basis and 3.4% higher on a constant currency basis.
Outlook
Greencore says the business has had a good start to the year and its 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,” it says.