Bread and cake-maker Finsbury Food Group has said it will deliver profits in line with management expectations despite sliding sales in its core cake business.
In its latest trading update, issued today, Finsbury reported a 4.1% decline in sales to £168.3m for the year to June, with strong sales in bread and free-from partially offsetting a 9.7% drop in like-for-like cake sales.
Finsbury attributed the drop to its exit from some low-margin business and a bias towards premium and healthier cakes, along with an overall decline in the cake market.
Bread and free-from sales grew by 9.3%, due in part to the acquisition last year of speciality bread maker Goswell, whose Vogel brand drove growth.
“We have performed in line with management expectations and when we emerge from this recession we will be competitively stronger and better positioned for growth as consumers seek higher-quality products that taste great,” said Finsbury chief executive John Duffy.
Read more
Focus On Free-From (26 June 2010)
Sales fall again at Finsbury but profits hold up (23 March 2010)
New FD for cake maker Finsbury (20 January 2010)