Cranswick sees half-year sales rise

6th Oct 2011 07:54

Meat producer Cranswick, which warned in July that full-year results would be below expectations due to rising raw material costs, said that trading over the last few months has been as anticipated.The firm did not enclose any information on the profit front, but said that underlying turnover in the six months to 30 September was 6% higher than last year, as growth accelerated in the second quarter. After including the impact of the business transferred to Farmers Boy Deeside in July last year, total sales grew by a lesser 3%."Pig meat products continue to gain an increased share of the UK retail protein market, as evidenced by recent market data. In fact, there has been an acceleration in this gain in recent months," the firm said."Both the versatility and the low relative price of pork to other proteins are key to this positive trend. The growing popularity of pork products has been a contributory factor in the increase in sales at Cranswick." Sales volume growth in the first quarter was 3% in the first quarter and 7% in the second. The group also saw strong growth in export sales in Far Eastern markets and said that "initial inroads were also made into the US market".BC