UK cake maker Finsbury Food Group has posted stable first-half profits despite seeing sales slide during the period.

The company said today (23 March) that profits before tax totalled GBP1.8m for the six months to 2 January, unchanged from the comparable period of last year.

Discover B2B Marketing That Performs

Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.

Find out more

Profitability was boosted by lower financial expenses year-on-year as the group was able to reduce its net debt. During the period, Finsbury booked slightly lower financial expenses, down to GBP1.2m, down from GBP1.4m last year.

However, total sales slid 7% to GBP82.9m, the company revealed. On a like-for-like basis, excluding the impact of Finsbury’s acquisition of  Goswell Enterprises last year and the additional trading week, sales were down GBP4.5m, or 5.2%.

Nevertheless, CEO John Duffy remained upbeat and insisted that the company had performed well in the challenging economic environment – particularly given its focus on “craft bakery” and premium products.

“The change in consumer behaviour may still be some time in coming, but we believe the group has coped well in delivering a sustained level of profitability in difficult market conditions and will emerge stronger as the economy picks up,” he said.

GlobalData Strategic Intelligence

US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?

Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.

By GlobalData

Finsbury said trading for the eight weeks since the half year end continues to be in line with management expectations.

Just Food Excellence Awards - Nominations Closed

Nominations are now closed for the Just Food Excellence Awards. A big thanks to all the organisations that entered – your response has been outstanding, showcasing exceptional innovation, leadership, and impact.

Excellence in Action
Winning five categories in the 2025 Just Food Excellence Awards, Centric Software is setting the pace for digital transformation in food and FMCG. Explore how its integrated PLM and PXM suite delivers faster launches, smarter compliance and data-driven growth for complex, multi-channel product portfolios.

Discover the Impact