Greencore Group's annual profits rise after restructuring

26th Nov 2013 07:43

- Profits and revenues grow after disposal and acquisitions - Dividend rises 12.9 per cent- Progress expected in fiscal year 2014Convenience store producer Greencore Group reported an increase in annual profits and revenue following the restructuring of its desserts business.Operating profit rose 8.1% to £76.5m and revenue climbed 3% to £1.19bn in the year ended September 27th 2013.Adjusted pre-tax profit jumped 11.8% to £61.6m while the operating margin grew 30 basis points to 6.4%. During the period the group conducted an overhaul of its desserts business with the disposal in January of the Chilled Desserts facility in Minsterley to the Müller Dairy UK and a number of acquisitions. The company acquired MarketFare, a manufacturer of food to go products for convenience and small stores in the US, and bought Schau, a US fresh food manufacturer.Uniq, a convenience food group, and International Cuisine, a private label chilled ready meal business, were also acquired."Greencore had a good year in 2013, with clear commercial, strategic and organisational progress delivered across the group," said Chief Executive Patrick Coveney. "We consolidated our portfolio after the extensive deal activity of the three preceding years, increased revenue at our US business by over 60% and realigned our resources behind a food to go led strategy."He added that "all this was achieved despite a weak UK consumer environment, limited growth in retail food markets, persistent input cost inflation and the negative impact of the horsemeat scandal". Horsemeat found in beef products at major UK supermarket chains hurt the industry earlier this year. Nevertheless, Greencore proved resilient, Conveney said. "We remain well positioned to deliver further progress in FY14 and beyond."The group proposed a dividend of 4.8p, up 12.9% from the previous year. RD