(Reuters) -Britain's Premier Foods reported a marginal growth in first-quarter sales on Thursday as weaker demand for its gravy and soup during warmer weather was partly offset by higher sales of
Warmer Weather Affects Soup and Gravy Sales at Premier Foods
(Reuters) -Britain's Premier Foods on Thursday said warmer weather kept shoppers away from gravy, stock, and soup in the first quarter, leading to only a marginal rise in revenue and sending its shares down 6%.
The company, which also owns the brands including Ambrosia, Bisto, and Oxo, reported sales of 240 million pounds ($321.1 million) at constant currency for the quarter to June 28, up just 0.3% from a year ago.
The company also left its annual trading profit forecast unchanged. Analysts expect full-year earnings of 195 million pounds, according to a company-compiled consensus.
"First-quarter trading was as expected given the weather and tough comparables. The first quarter is the smallest in revenue terms and we make no changes to our full-year forecasts," Peel Hunt analysts said in a note.
The stock was trading down 6.1% at 181.6 pence at 0750 GMT.
Amid rising inflation, higher employer costs, and economic uncertainty in Britain, Premier Foods is navigating a challenging environment by focusing on expanding into new categories across its markets to drive growth.
It also expects to drive branded revenue growth this year with new launches, including FUEL10K yogurt and granola pots.
This expansion paid some dividends during the quarter, as the company said new product ranges such as Mr Kipling birthday cake tarts performed very strongly in Britain.
That helped sales in its sweet treats segment jump more than 11%, offsetting a 2.7% drop in grocery revenue in the quarter.
In May, CEO Alex Whitehouse signalled potential price hikes to offset input costs, following a year of discount-driven promotions to attract customers.
Premier Foods did not provide an update to its future pricing strategy on Thursday.
($1 = 0.7475 pounds)
(Reporting by Raechel Thankam Job and Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Nithyashree R B; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Sharon Singleton)
