Premier Foods' new boss rolls up his sleeves

11th Aug 2011 10:57

The man tasked with turning around the fortunes of Premier Foods will begin work two weeks early.The manufacturer of household brands such as Hovis Bread, Branston Pickle and Sharwoods announced in July that Mike Clarke would take over from the current chief executive Robert Schofield.Clarke has now decided to start work on Tuesday, a fortnight ahead of schedule, in order to repair some of the damage caused by a 60% slump in Premier Food's shareprice in the last three months.The problem facing the firm has been two-fold. The cost of raw ingredients has gone up, which reduced trading profits by 29% for the six months to the end of June.There has also been a dispute with one of its main customers over price, which further put pressure on the firm.Mike Clarke has run Kraft Foods Europe since 2009.Investors were obviously happy to see a new captain at the helm, with shares up over 7% in early trading.BS