UK food firm Northern Foods has said its Christmas trading was good and it had made progress towards stabilising its second-half profits.
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The company posted a 7.2% rise in total sales for the three months to 31 December 2003, compared to the year-ago period. Underlying retail sales for the quarter were up 3.5%, despite the full impact of losing a major savoury products contract and the continuing effects of unseasonably warm weather in October and November, the company said.
Northern Foods said sales to its five largest customers, Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Safeway, rose 8.0%, or 3.5% on an underlying basis.
The company said it had advanced towards its aim of stabilising second half profits at around last year’s level, but added that further progress was needed in the final quarter to recover continuing raw material inflation, in a very demanding trading environment, and to achieve additional reductions in overhead costs.
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