FDBusiness.com

Helped by acquisitions, Finsbury Food Group, a leading UK speciality bakery manufacturer of cake, bread and morning goods for the retail and foodservice channels, has reported a 46% increase in group revenue to £156.6 million for the 26 weeks ended 26 December 2015.

On a like-for-like basis, organic growth was 7.4%, an increase of £8.0 million. Profit from operations before interest, tax and significant non-recurring and other items was up by 78% or £3.5 million to £8.0 million. On a like-for-like basis, profit from operations was up 21% to £5.5 million. Group operating profit margin improved to 5.1% from 4.2% in the first half of 2014.

Following the acquisitions of Fletchers in October 2014 and Johnstone’s in June 2015, Finsbury Food Group is now one of the largest speciality bakery groups in the UK with annualised revenues exceeding £300 million. Integration of the businesses has provided a broader spread of customers across food retail and foodservice channels

John Duffy, chief executive of Finsbury Food Group, comments: “We are very pleased to once again be reporting a strong first half performance, with our organic growth being supplemented by the acquisition of Fletchers and Johnstone’s. Alongside this growth, our capital investment strategy, together with our continued efficiency programme has resulted in improved operating margins.”

He elaborates: “Despite operating in a challenging market, we have created a group that is well positioned to flourish in an improving environment and we look forward to benefitting from increased consumer confidence. Having built solid foundations and implemented a robust growth strategy that aims to create sustainable value for our stakeholders, we look forward to driving further growth both organically and through strategic M&A.”