Premier Foods hails 'outstanding' year, reinstates dividend after 13 years

Mr Kipling owner Premier Foods said on Wednesday that it was reinstating its dividend after 13 years as it hailed an "outstanding" year, underpinned by more at-home food consumption during the pandemic.

In its preliminary full-year results, the company - which also owns Bisto and Oxo, among other brands - said adjusted pre-tax profit rose 23.5% from the previous year to £115.3m. Revenue grew 10.3% to £934.2m. Within that, branded revenue was 13.6% in the full year and ahead 7% in the fourth quarter.

Premier said it saw a prolonged period of elevated demand for its product ranges as consumers were restricted to eating all their meals at home, with pubs and restaurants closed for long periods of time due to coronavirus restrictions.

"Overall, the group's consumer base expanded this year, as a result of more people cooking from home, experimenting with new recipes and expanding their repertoire of meals," it said.

Premier Foods also announced a proposed final dividend of 1p a share, having last paid a dividend in 2008.

Chief executive officer Alex Whitehouse said: "This has been an outstanding year for the business with very strong financial metrics across the board. We have reduced our leverage to 1.9x EBITDA, repaid £190m of our Floating Rate Bonds saving approximately £10m in interest costs and entered into a transformational new pensions agreement.

"As a result, we are pleased to be reinstating dividend payments for the first time in 13 years."