Finsbury Food Group shares up on impressive results

Speciality bakery manufacturer Finsbury Food Group announced its preliminary results for the year to 2 July on Monday, with group revenue up 24.8% to £319.7m, 52 week revenue up 22.4% to £313.5m up 22.4%, or up 5.0% on a like for like basis.

The AIM-traded firm reported gross profit of £102.6m, up 30%, and adjusted operating profit of £17.1m, up 37.7% on the prior year.

Group adjusted operating profit margin was 5.3%, improving from 4.8% last year, and adjusted profit before tax was up 40.8% to £16.0m.

Finsbury Food Group made record capital investment of £12.1m during the year, which the board said was to ensure long term competitiveness.

It posted strong growth in adjusted diluted earnings per share, up 19% to 9.5p, with the board declaring a final dividend of 1.87p per share, taking the total dividend for the year up 12% to 2.80p.

Net debt of £19.7m equated to 0.8 times EBITDA of the group, and was well within the long term banking facility of £51m available to support the company’s current and future growth plans.

“If 2015 was all about transformation for the group, then 2016 has been about delivering on our growth strategy and moving even closer to our vision of building the leading speciality bakery group in the UK focused on quality products,” said chief executive John Duffy.

“There has been significant top and bottom line growth, as a result of considerable efforts across the whole company.”

Duffy said the integration of Fletchers and Johnstones had been board priorities, and the company was continuing to invest across all aspects of the business, diversifying into new channels and widening the customer base, to deliver a “stronger platform” for future growth and ensure long term competitiveness.

“Looking ahead our strongly performing businesses and a robust balance sheet positions us well to both take advantage of growth opportunities and mitigate challenges ahead.

“The group remains as dedicated and focused as ever, and I remain confident that the patient, unwavering strategy adopted will reap benefits for the business in the years ahead,” Duffy added.

At 1045 BST, shares in Finsbury Food Group were up 1.03% at 136.9p.