The London Stock Exchange was not the only thing to suffer downtime this week.
Hazlewood Foods warned sales were "running a little below plan" and, as a result, profit would be towards the lower end of market expectations.
The own label chilled foods group will also incur a £10m exceptional reorganisation charge in the figures due to be posted in June on top of charges already announced.
As luck would have it, the news came the day before "crash Wednesday" and Hazlewood's shares fell 8p to 841/2p well down on its 12 month high of 1511/2p. One analyst said investors had accepted last year's disappointing £40m profit figure was largely due to one off factors and had, therefore, been expecting a "relatively safe" figure of £46m for this year.
The fact Hazlewood is now likely to report nearer £42m has only added to the negative vibes surrounding the stock.
Hazlewood is operating in growth categories. What's up? Its problems may stem from the fact it does a lot more work with second tier retailers than its rivals. One analyst said: "If you are aligned more to them, you will be automatically losing share because your customers are."
There was more bad news in this week's statement, as Hazlewood said the start up costs associated with new factories would impact results in the current financial year.
But that's the short-term view. Own label convenience foods is one sector where investment in new factories and npd is vital. The cash being spent by Hazlewood will allow it to keep pace with its competitors and, hopefully, continue attracting more business from top draw retailers.
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