Premier Foods PLC shares dived in early deals as the Mr Kipling cakes maker posted some exceedingly mundane half-year figures.
Revenue in the 26 weeks to 2 October was £394.1mln, down from £421.5mln in the corresponding period of 2020.
Profit before tax plunged to £30.7mln from £50.5mln while earnings per share more than halved to 2.4p from 5.0p.
The group reiterated its intention to pay a dividend on a full-year basis.
Premier Foods, which also owns brands such as Ambrosia, Oxo and Sharwoods, said it enters the second half of the year with strong momentum, with plans to venture into more new categories.
Management flagged industry wide challenges across the supply chain but said the group has robust plans in place to respond to them.
The group will benefit from substantially lower interest costs from its earnings enhancing refinancing and is on track to deliver against its profit expectations for the full year, the company said in its interim results statement.
“We have delivered a very good first-half performance, with revenue growth ahead of expectations; quarter two was particularly strong, with revenue growth of +8.5% vs two years ago,” said Alex Whitehouse, the chief executive officer.
“Our brands have performed especially well with growth versus two years ago of +11.4% and increased market share in both Grocery and Sweet Treats, illustrating the continued success of our branded growth model. I am particularly pleased with how well the business is successfully navigating the widely reported industry-wide challenges including logistics, labour shortages and input cost inflation to deliver such a strong set of results, which again underlines the robustness of our operating capabilities,” Whitehouse said.
"As we look ahead to the second half of the year, we will be launching a range of insight-driven new products and supporting six of our key brands with advertising. We will expand our presence in adjacent new categories, building on the initial success of Cape Herb and Spice and Oxo Rubs & Marinades, as well as bringing to market premium Mr Kipling biscuits and a range of branded ice cream. We will also continue to develop our overseas businesses including the full roll-out of Mr Kipling in Canada and the test launch of Mr Kipling in the USA,” Whitehouse said.
Shares in Premier Foods were off 5.3% at 108.2p after an hour of trading.