Dairy Crest, which is mulling the future of its French business, today (29 March) revealed its local brand St Hubert had achieved “record” market share in the last three months of the UK dairy company’s financial year.
In a trading update for the final quarter of its fiscal year, which runs until 31 March, Dairy Crest said value sales of its five flagship brands, including St Hubert Omega 3, had increased over the last 12 months.
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It said St Hubert had posted “record market share during the final quarter”. Earlier this month, Dairy Crest revealed it was reviewing the future of St Hubert. The announcement raised eyebrows in the City with some analysts estimating that St Hubert accounts for 30% of Dairy Crest’s margins. However, the company said a sale of St Hubert could help it reduce debt and fund potential acquisitions in the UK.
Dairy Crest said today it would provide an update on the review “when appropriate”.
The company’s trading update, made ahead of the announcement of its full-year results in May, said its performance in the fourth quarter had been “in line with our expectations”.
Sales volumes of its five key brands, which also include Clover butter and Frijj milkshake, are expected to have recovered in the second half of the year after falling in the first six months and are set to be higher over the 12 months over the whole.
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By GlobalDataThe performance of Dairy Crest’s brands came amid problems within its dairies divisions, where, it said, profits remain “under pressure”. The company said it was looking at a “range of options” to get the business back to “a satisfactory level of profitability”. However, Dairy Crest said, as a whole, its profits were in line with expectations.
Analysts at Shore Capital said Dairy Crest’s performance was a “undoubtedly a tale of two divisions” with a “strong performance” from its brands but “offset by challenges in dairy”.
Dairy Crest chief executive Mark Allen said the last 12 months had been “a year of progress” for the company. “We have continued to deliver against our strategy despite challenging trading conditions,” he said. “Our business has faced sizeable inflationary input costs and we have dealt with these by focusing on our strong key brands and by driving efficiencies. We continue to proactively shape our business for the long term.”
In the last year, Dairy Crest has looked to cut costs by GBP20m (US$31.8m). Earlier this month, it said 35 jobs at its creamery in Stonehouse were likely to be cut after a review of the facility.
