FDBusiness.com

2 Sisters Foods Group, the UK-based diversified food manufacturer with strong positions in the protein, chilled and branded categories, is to invest £150 million across its poultry business in addition to the already announced £55 million development project for its meal solutions division and the £4 million being spent to increase frozen pizza capacity.

“Our aim is to build a better business,” comments Ranjit Singh, group chief executive of 2 Sisters Food. “We are launching a major £150 million investment programme in our poultry business that will completely revolutionise our supply chain end-to-end. We are aiming to further align our poultry business with the needs of our customers, creating world class facilities utilising state-of-the-art technology, and driving efficiency.”

During the past year, 2 Sisters has streamlined its UK poultry processes and supply chain and is also continuing to focus on measures to reduce campylobacter – an area where it has already invested £10 million to date.

2 Sisters has also restructured its Biscuits and Food-to-Go operations to reduce costs and improve efficiency.

“Our investment plans also include a further £55 million development project for our Meal Solutions division, which will create further capacity across all four sites and put us at the forefront of developing the next generation of ready meals,” adds Ranjit Singh. “Our business transformation continues at pace and with a number of investment programmes in place, I am confident we have the right strategy to meet the needs of our major customers who increasingly demand long-term, dedicated partnerships with their suppliers.”

For the year ended 1 August 2015, Boparan Holdings, the parent company for 2 Sisters Food Group, reported an 8.2% drop in sales to £3.14 billion with like-for-like sales down by 1.7%. Operating profit fell by 34.3% to £58.8 million with the margin declining by 70 bps to 1.9%. On a like-for-like basis, operating profit decreased by 38.5% to £60.4 million and the margin from 3.0% in 2014 to 1.9%. Retained loss for the year after exceptional items, interest and taxation was £4.6 million, compared to a loss of £143.3 million in 2014. Net debt at the end of the 2015 financial year was £716.6 million – up £52 million on the previous year.

“During 2015 we focused on costs, efficiency, investment, innovation and deepening customer relationships,” he says. “The operating environment for our industry remains tough, but we have seen a consistent improvement in our performance across all our divisions, with a 17.5% increase in life-for-like operating profit to £22.8 million from Q3 to Q4.”