Cake and food ingredients group Real Good Food (RGF) (LON:RGD) blamed falling commodity prices for lower revenue but said it had started the year well.
RGF said total group revenue was down on a like-for-like annual basis due to continued commodity price deflation, particularly in dairy and sugar markets, which hit its Garretts Ingredients subsidiary.
But it said it was generally very satisfied with the way that trading had started during the early part of the new financial year.
RGF's cake decorating businesses, such as Renshaw, increased underlying pre-tax earnings, helped by a good contribution from acquisition Rainbow Dust.
"Overall trading for the group is currently in line with market expectations," it said. "We look forward to the key autumn and Christmas season with confidence."
Broker Shore Capital said it was leaving its 2015/16 profit forecasts unchanged. "We believe RGF is now a transformed business with greater focus and a more added value proposition and with a good start to FY2016F, it suggests brighter times are ahead."
Investment research group Hardman & Co said in a note: "Real Good Food has transformed its prospects through corporate action over the past nine months. The market has yet to catch up with this.
"Even more importantly, the mix of business is biased to higher margin and growth markets – added to which export markets are being more systematically addressed recently. We therefore see significant long term growth prospects."