Convenience food maker Greencore has recorded a healthy rise in annual revenues and profits after it largely recovered or mitigated inflation pressures through several mechanisms, including passing on cost increases, cost reductions, product and range reformulations, and alternative sourcing.
Group revenue climbed 10.0% to £1.91bn while its pre-tax profit rose by 13.6% to £45.2m over the year to 29 September 2023.
Greencore stated that the revenue growth came through a combination of underlying volume growth, including new business wins, and recovering significant levels of cost inflation. It noted that manufactured volume growth of 0.5% represented a “strong” performance relative to the wider market.
Revenue in its main food-to-go division, which makes sandwiches, salads, and snacks for leading supermarkets, rose 7.9% to £1.25bn. Meanwhile, revenue from its other unit, which produces ready meals, soups and sauces, increased by 14.3% to £661.1m.
Greencore’s Chief Executive Dalton Philips said the business had “stabilised” and had made good strategic progress during the year. “The group delivered above-market volume growth, despite exiting a number of low margin contracts,” he said. “We also successfully mitigated and recovered the majority of our input cost inflation through effective operational and commercial initiatives.”
He stated the group was continuing to focus on improving profitability and investing in a number of initiatives to grow the business.
“We are pleased with the start to the year and although it’s early days, the group remains confident in delivering FY24 within the range of current market expectations,” Philips said.
