Premier Foods PLC reported a “strong" first quarter with trading in-line with expectations and said expectations for FY22/23 remain unchanged.
The maker of Bird's custard and Bisto reported sales growth of 6% in the thirteen weeks to 2 July compared with the prior year, while branded items and grocery revenues rose 4.5% and 6.3% respectively. International sales advanced 12%.
Non-branded growth of 17.1% was attributed to a strong recovery in out-of-home sales and pricing benefit in retailer-branded product categories, it said.
The British food manufacturer said it has been trading in line with its expectations and that it has continued to gain market share both in-store and online.
Alex Whitehouse, chief executive, commented: "We have made good progress in recovering our input cost inflation through a range of measures, including cost efficiencies and pricing, and we continue to monitor the situation closely.
“Consumers are increasingly looking to cook tasty affordable meals at home; this fits well with our broad portfolio of brands and was illustrated by the strong performance of Batchelors and Nissin in the quarter.”
Its shares climbed 4.3% to 115.4p on the news.