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UK-based sweet maker Tangerine Confectionery has invested £7.5m in its York factory as it formally integrates Big Bear Confectionery months after merging with the struggling brand.
The investment will see production of Big Bear’s key Fox’s and Poppets brands move to Tangerine’s York site – which already manufactures Jameson’s Caramels, Coconut Ruffles and Taveners.
The move follows Tangerine’s £100m buyout from CapVest-owned Valeo Foods in August 2018 and its subsequent merger with Big Bear as part of Valeo’s strategy to unite its confectionery brands and find efficiencies.
The move follows the launch of a consultation with Big Bear employees in February on the closure of its Leicester manufacturing site by the end of 2019, with over 200 jobs on the line. The expansion at Tangerine will create 90 new jobs.
Valeo started a turnaround process at Big Bear in January, after the business swung to a £2.6m pre-tax loss during the 15-month period after its acquisition.
Morning update
In this week’s edition of The Grocer, read what lies ahead for Majestic WINE and Naked now after the sale of Majestic’s retail estate to US private equity firm Fortress.
Plus, Illycafe targets UK growth as it buys back the bulk of its UK distribution from Euro Food Brands, profits tumble at cider producer Aston Manor despite sales rise and more.
Check out thegrocer.co.uk/finance later this morning for full details.
On the markets this morning, the FTSE 100 is back down 0.4% to 7,256.9pts after yesterday’s partial recovery.
Early fallers include DS Smith (SMDS), down 0.9% to 330.4p, FeverTree (FEVR), down 0.9% to 2,229p and Greencore (GNC), down 0.7% to 207p.
Risers so far today include Hilton Food Group (HFG), up 2.7% to 939p, PayPoint (PAY), up 2.1% to 978.8p, Glanbia (GLB), up 2.1% to €11.44 and McColl’s (MCLS), up 1.2% to 65.9p.
Yesterday in the City
The FTSE 100 ended the day back up 1.2% to 7,285.9pts, though remains well below the 7,600pts level it started the week.
Amongst the risers was Kerry Group (KYGA), which jumped 5.9% to €109.60 after raising its interim dividend after posted double-digit first half sales growth.
Other risers included Ocado (OCDO), up 4.3% to 1,208p, DS Smith (SMDS), up 4.1% to 333.3p, PureCircle (PURE) up 2.7% to 267.5p, Glanbia (GLB), up 2% to €11.21, FeverTree (FEVR), up 1.7% to 2,248p and Just Eat (JE), up 1.6% to 802p.
The tobacco companies had a strong day of trading, with Imperial Brands (IMB) up 2.5% to 2,115p and British American Tobacco (BATS) up 2.2% to 3,071p.
Retailers WH Smith (SMWH) and Tesco (TSCO) were also on the rise, climbing 1.6% to 2,040p and 1.3% to 219.7p respectively.
The day’s fallers included McBride (MCB), down 3.9% to 64p, Greene King (GNK), down 3.4% to 577.2p, Stock Spirits (STCK), down 3.3% to 232p, PZ Cussons (PZC), down 3% to 207.5p, Nichols (NICL) down 1.7% to 1,785p and Finsbury Foods Group (FIF), down 1.5% to 65p.
Coca-Cola HBC (CCH) fell 1.1 to 2,799p as its first half growth fell short of analyst expectations as cooler weather hit sales. Fellow Coke bottler Coca-Cola European Partners ended the day up 0.7% in New York to $55.84 despite an early share price dip on a slight miss on first half earnings after it continued to post strong organic growth.
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