France-based poultry group LDC has raised its forecast for annual underlying operating profit after seeing sales rise during the year.
The company saw revenue inch up 0.1% to EUR3.03bn (US$3.27bn) in the 12 months to 28 February on the back of a 1.8% increase in volumes. LDC said its results in the last three months of the financial year were at the "upper end" of its expectations, with revenue increasing 0.4% to EUR815.2m and volumes growing 3.1%.
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The performance meant LDC, which will publish its full accounts in June, forecast underlying operating profit of over EUR145m, compared to its previous target of more than EUR130m.
During the year, LDC said its domestic revenues were "stable" at EUR2.1bn after a 1.1% rise in the fourth quarter.
The company's deli division, a business based on brands, saw sales increase 2.5% to EUR508.7m. Revenues in the fourth quarter climbed 3.4%.
Internationally, LDC's sales dipped 0.8% to EUR200.8m.
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By GlobalDataLDC is set to embark on the new financial year as a larger company. In February, the French competition watchdog cleared LDC's move to snap up slaughterhouse and processing assets from local agri-food business The Avril Group.
The deal, announced in October, sees Avril sell the poultry slaughterhouse and processed products activities of its animal products division to LDC.
The assets comprise five sites generating sales of EUR310m and employing 1,000 people. They will be combined with six LDC sites in Britanny to form a new company: Societe Bretonne de Volaille. LDC will also acquire a site in Blancafort in central France.
