Revenue rises at cake-maker Finsbury Foods as it targets vegan market
British cake-maker Finsbury Foods saw revenue grow in the year to June as the firm embraces new trends such as vegan and healthy products.
Shares in the group rose 2.55 per cent soon after the bell, hitting 80.5p.
The figures
Finsbury Foods’s adjusted profit before tax fell 5.7 per cent to £16.8m in the 12 months to 29 June from £17.8m a year earlier.
The fall came despite non-adjusted profit before tax tripling to £13.6m from £4.5m the previous year.
The Aim-listed group’s revenue grew 3.8 per cent in the year to June, hitting £315.3m. Like-for-like revenue increased four per cent to £301.8m.
Net debt more than doubled to £35.6m. Finsbury Foods’s cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period were £12.4m, up from £9.4m a year earlier.
The non-adjusted profit boost took basic earnings per share to 7.3p, up from 1.7p in 2018.
Finsbury Foods’s total dividend rose 6.1 per cent to 3.5p over the period.
Why it’s interesting
Finsbury Food produces some household names in the UK bread and cakes market, including Mary Berry products, Mars cakes, and Vogel’s bread.
The group has invested £11m in the recent period, with a focus on trends such as healthy, vegan and artisan products.
Finsbury has launched a “free from” – meaning without gluten or animal products – range in Europe and is now producing vegan brioche-style buns and artisan, stone-baked breads.
What Finsbury Foods said
Chief executive John Duffy said: “We are confident that the strong second half performance will continue into the year ahead.”
“Whilst the wider macroeconomic and political environment remains challenging in the UK, our drive for innovation, outperformance of foodservice and our entry in the Free From market provides a strong footing to continue to drive organic growth.”
“By maintaining a longer-term strategic approach, given an uncertain consumer and inflationary cost environment outlook, we are confident that we will continue to build a strong, lean, scale competitor and consolidator.”
(Image credit: Getty)