Bisto maker’s stock rises as profits pour in

LOSS-making Premier Foods – home to Mr Kipling and Bisto – boosted its turnaround yesterday by revealing it is on track for a better than expected year.

By The Newsroom

Published 24th Jul 2013, 01:01 BST

Cost savings and a sixth consecutive quarter of growth for its frontline brands, which also include Ambrosia and Batchelors, meant losses for the six months to June 30 were cut by around half to £23.5m.

Its shares jumped after Premier added that profits at a trading level should be around the top of City expectations for the whole of 2013.

Chief executive Gavin Darby, the former telecoms boss who took over after Michael Clarke’s shock exit in January, described the company’s half-year performance as “very encouraging” given the level of competition in the food industry.

Trading profits rose by 50 per cent to £47.4m, with sales of its key brands up by four per cent after a marketing campaign for Ambrosia and Bisto and Oxo reinforced their leading positions.