2 Sisters makes ‘solid’ start to year

2 Sisters Food Group boss Ranjit Singh says his company has made a “solid” start to the financial year, despite the continuing economic squeeze on consumers.
Financial results for the 13 weeks to the end of October 2013 show that total like-for-like sales, stripping out the acquisition of Vion earlier this year, grew by 8.7% to £670m, while operating profit grew just slightly to £31.3m.
But adding the Vion effect back into the accounts, actual sales were up 43% to £885m, while operating profit was down 13% to £26.5m.
Commenting on the first quarter, the company pointed to strong growth in the Protein division, where sales were up 20%, driven by business gains and cost recovery. “We continue to address our cost base and announced proposals to consolidate our Scottish poultry production by exiting the Letham site and improving efficiency and performance at Coupar Angus.”
The Chilled Foods division continued to “feel the headwinds”, but 2 Sisters expects performance to pick up in the second quarter, when new products launches and new Christmas ranges start to feed through. The closure of the Haughley Park site will also benefit the accounts.