UK: Iceland Foods sees profit dip

Frozen food retailer Iceland has booked a mixed set of full-year results, as the bottom line was hit by one-off expenses.

The company said today (7 June) that pre-tax profit in the 12 months to 29 March slipped to GBP127.7m (US$198.1m), down from GBP199.2m in 2013. During the period the company increased its investment in expanding its UK base, opening 33 new stores. The bottom-line was also hit by costs associated with the GBP1.45bn management buyout, which was completed in March 2012.

Underlying comparable earnings edged up 0.6% to GBP226.3m, the group revealed.

The company said like-for-like sales rose 1.1% in the year. Iceland was lapping a tough comparable, having achieved LFL growth of 6% in 2012. Sales, the company conceded, were hit by lower demand for frozen beef products in the wake of the horsemeat scandal. However, Iceland emphasised, none of its own label products were found to contain horse DNA.

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