Shares of Premier Foods PLC opened 3% stronger as the owner of brands such as Ambrosia and Angel Delight impressed with a profit upgrade.
Unveiling a 21% increase in underlying first-half earnings to £56.9 million, the company said it expects its 2023-24 trading profit to exceed the previous year's £157.5 million by 10%, surpassing the average analyst forecast of around £166 million.
This positive projection comes amidst a gradual easing of food inflation, providing some respite to the grocery sector amid the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.
"We've had a really good start to the year, making strong progress against all our strategic pillars," said CEO Alex Whitehouse.
"We delivered branded revenue growth of nearly 16%, again maintained our trading profit margins and we continue to grow faster than our markets, gaining 113 basis points of share in our grocery categories.
"This performance once again demonstrates the power of our branded growth model and the capabilities of our team."
Shares in Premier, up 23% in the year to date, advanced 3.84p to 134.84p.