UK pork supplier Cranswick today (30 January) announced a “strong” third-quarter sales performance.
For the three months to 31 December, sales increased by 10% on the same period last year. The company said sales of bacon and fresh pork products were particularly strong, export sales were good and sales of pastry products continued to show “pleasing progress”.
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However, net debt increased from GBP48m (US$75.1m) to GBP59m during the quarter. A statement said: “The group is in a strong financial position, with committed, unsecured facilities of GBP100m, which provide generous headroom going forward.
“The business has a well-invested asset base, loyal and skilled teams, a great range of products and a strong financial position. Good progress has been made following the challenges of the first half and the board looks forward positively to the rest of the year and the long-term development of Cranswick.”
Shares in the company jumped 1.65% to 771.5p as of 12.16 GMT.
Analysts have been impressed with the results. Damian McNeela at Panmure Gordon & Co gave it a “buy” rating and said: “Cranswick remains well placed to benefit from the ongoing switch by consumers into pork products, with further new product development supplementing this growth.”
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By GlobalDataDarren Shirley at Shore Capital concurred. “In addition to the excellent revenue performance, we believe Cranswick had a strong operational performance though Q3 and the important Christmas period, supported by its industry leading manufacturing infrastructure,” he said.
