Premier Foods sells canned ops for £182m

8th Feb 2011 07:37

Hovis to Branston pickle group Premier Foods has sold its canned foods businesses to Princes Limited for £182m, the second major disposal in a fortnight for the debt laden group.For the year ended December 2010, the canned food business is expected to have revenues of £334.2m, underlying earnings of £31.7m and a trading profit of £27.8m."Selling the business simplifies our operations and allows us to concentrate our efforts on our current portfolio of great British brands. Combined with the proposed disposal of our meat-free business, we will have delivered total gross proceeds of £387m, significantly accelerating the delivery of our financial strategy," Premier chief executive Robert Schofield said.Premier added that the sale represents a material reduction in debt and a further step towards reaching Premier Foods' target of reducing debt and achieving a 3.25 average debt / EBITDA. As at 26 June 2010, net debt was £1.37bn.In January, Premier sold its Quorn business to a private equity consortium for £205m.