Canada-based food manufacturer and retailer George Weston Limited has reported another quarter of rising sales for its Weston Foods business, contributing to top-line growth and improved earnings from the unit during the first nine months of the year.
Weston Foods generated sales of CAD673m (US$502.3m) for the 16 weeks to 8 October, up 3.7% on a year earlier. George Weston pointed to higher volumes and said foreign exchange, which had given a boost to Weston Foods’ reported sales in the first quarter of the year, had “a nominal positive impact” on sales in the third quarter.
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Over the first 40 weeks of George Weston’s financial year, sales from Weston Foods increased 7.1% to CAD1.73bn, in part reflecting the boost from exchange rates earlier in the year. However, the underlying sales from Weston Foods in each of the first three quarters of the year was 4.8%, 4.3% and 3.7% respectively.
Third-quarter adjusted EBITDA from Weston Foods increased 4.1% to CAD101m. Over the first nine months of the financial year, the division’s adjusted EBITDA rose 2.3%.
George Weston maintained its forecast for Weston Foods’ adjusted EBITDA to rise in 2016 as a whole. However, the company said the amount it would spend on capital investments in the business was now expected to be CAD210m, compared to a previous estimate of CAD275m.
The group added: “The competitive retail landscape continues to intensify, particularly in fresh bakery and this will put added pressure on the business.” That remark was a slight tweak from “may put added pressure on the business” when George Weston reported its second-quarter numbers.
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