Premier Foods has said that trading has continued in line with the first four months of the year, with good grocery growth, leading it to reaffirm its full year targets.
The company said that sales for its grocery division continued to see good growth driven by 2008 pricing actions. It also grew its market share supported by new product launches and promotional activity.
Sales in the bread business continued to grow thanks in particular to investment behind Hovis.
Although sales of bulk flour were lower than last year due to its exit from a low margin flour contract, bulk flour profitability has been unaffected, Premier said.
The chilled division continued to see good sales growth of both Quorn and retailer branded products although profitability has been reduced by the high level of marketing investment and increased manufacturing costs in the Meat free business. Integration synergies remain on track, the company reported.
“Our expectations for sales and profit for the half year and the full year are unchanged,” Permier said.
