Historic Year For Bakkavor
Bakkavor Group, the UK’s leading provider of fresh prepared food, has posted a 13.2% rise in adjusted profit before tax to £84.8 million on like-for-like revenue up 5.4% to £1.800 billion for the 52 week period ended 30 December 2017. Adjusted EBITDA rose 4.2% to £152.6 million with a margin of 8.4% – up from 8.3% in 2016.
On a statutory basis group revenue increased by 4.6% to £1.815 billion but profit before tax was £24.1 million lower at £39.0 million, largely due to a public listing and refinancing costs. During 2017, Bakkavor successful listed on the London Stock Exchange, providing capital to accelerate strategic investments, and fully refinanced it lending facilities, including redemption of senior secured notes.
Agust Gudmundsson, chief executive of Bakkavor.
The fresh prepared food specialist has embarked upon a significant capital investment programme to support ongoing growth across the group, and has started construction on four key projects in the UK, the US and China. In 2017, Bakkavor further developed its businesses in the US and China through stronger customer partnerships.
Agust Gudmundsson, chief executive of Bakkavor, comments: “This has been an historic year for Bakkavor. We have transformed the group, fully refinancing our lending facilities and listing on the London Stock Exchange, positioning us well for future growth. Our strong trading performance, in a highly inflationary environment, reflects both our market-leading expertise in great tasting food and the strong strategic partnerships with our customers.
“The second half of 2017 saw volume growth impacted as UK consumers reacted to significant inflationary pressure. As expected this trend has continued into 2018 and is likely to remain until inflation eases. Later in the year, we expect our volume growth to benefit from improved market conditions and new business.”
He adds: “Despite these industry-wide challenges, we are confident that our scale, track record of innovation and focus on operational efficiencies ensures we are well placed to deliver ongoing profitable growth, both from existing business and our long-term investment strategy.”
