Greencore Group plc has recorded revenue growth of 22.6% in the first half of the financial year 2018 (FY18).
This morning the leading manufacturer of convenience food in the UK and US published its interim results for the 26-week period which ended on March 30, 2018.
The group’s revenue reached £1,238.5 million in the first half of FY18, compared to £1,010.3 million in the same period in FY17.
Meanwhile, Greencore’s adjusted profit before tax rose by 5.6% in the first half of FY18, bringing the total to £47.2 million. Operating cash flow rose by £8.4 million in the first half of FY18, meaning the total figure stood at £32.7 million.
Besides all of this, the group managed to reduce its net debt by £34.4 million – dropping it to £522.2 million by the end of the first half of FY18.
On average, it manufactures around 1.5 billion sandwiches, over 600 million salad and lunch kits, as well as 140 million ready meals every year.
‘Strong revenue growth’
The CEO of Greencore, Patrick Coveney, outlined that the first half of FY18 has been challenging for the group and its shareholders.
Commenting on the results, he said: “While we delivered strong revenue growth in both the UK and US, profit growth was impacted by the challenges experienced in the original part of Greencore’s US division.
As a result of the significant strategic, network and organisational measures that we have taken in order to address these challenges, we believe that our US business is now much better positioned to deliver an improved performance in the second half of the year and beyond.
“We anticipate strong organic growth for the remainder of FY18.”
Outlook
The group anticipates good organic growth in the seasonally more significant second half of the financial year.
It is believed that UK profit conversion will be driven by strong year-on-year performance in ‘Food to Go’ and that US profitability will be supported by strong year-on-year performance in the former Peacock Foods business.
As well as this, Greencore has reiterated its FY18 guidance of adjusted EPS (earnings per share) in the range of 14.7p to 15.7p.