Finsbury Food revenues drop as bakeries closed

Finsbury Food was under the cosh on Wednesday as the speciality cake manufacturer posted a drop in half-year revenue following the closure of some of its bakeries.

In an update for the six months to 31 December 2018, the company said total group revenue including the closed businesses fell 3.5% to £152.3m. Total group sales revenue on a like-for-like basis was up 0.5% at £145.5m.

Growth in LFL sales was attributed to the core division, UK Bakery, which saw 1.7% growth despite a difficult macro environment with sustained inflationary pressure. However, sales in the overseas division fell by 8% during the period.

Finsbury said the integration of recent acquisition Ultrapharm is continuing to progress and additional capacity will be delivery by the end of the existing fiscal year.

"The group is now a diverse multi-channel speciality bakery group and despite the market conditions, is well placed to continue to drive efficiency, deliver innovation and maintain its leading position in the market," it said.

Finsbury announced back in 2017 that it would close its loss-making Grain D'Or business.

At 1005 GMT, the shares were down 11% to 82.90p.