UK: Few bakery firms keeping finances under control

Few of the UK’s leading bakery companies are fully in control of their overall business strategy, according to business analysts Plimsoll.

Plimsoll said that a survey it conducted showed a “remarkable inconsistency” in the companies’ commercial and financial behaviour. It predicted that very few of the bakery firms planning to come out on top in 2007 in terms of profit and sales would actually achieve their goals.

David Pattison, senior analyst on the project, said: “In today’s highly competitive bakery market you cannot sit still for a minute. If you have seen sales increase this year and good profits, there is a fair chance that next year you will not be able to maintain it. Likewise, if you did not increase sales this year you are going to have to set a priority of trying to grab some growth in the next trading period.”

The survey graded each company based on how successful they were performing in terms of the market, based on their sales and commercial success, and their overall financial strength, taking into account profitability levels and level of debt.

Plimsoll’s findings showed that more than half of the 960 companies analysed have changed strategy in the last 12 months, and not all by choice.

Said David Pattison: “What this analysis is clearly saying is that, in a very competitive market, of the companies planning to be a winner by the end of 2007, few will actually achieve their goal.”