The hefty full-year growth reported by chilled food specialist Greencore (GNC) significantly reflected the acquisition of Uniq at the end of last year. Although, even after adjusting for that, and underlying revenue at the core convenience food unit still rose by a tasty 7.4 per cent year-on-year - despite headwinds from grim summer weather.
Admittedly, the Uniq deal has pushed the group operating margin down by 30 basis points to 6.1 per cent. But that shouldn't detract from Greencore's growth profile. Around 40 per cent of the convenience division's revenues are generated from food-to-go sales - such as sandwiches - and Greencore's growth rate here reached 9.8 per cent in the period, compared with market growth of 5.4 per cent. Similarly, the group's grocery and frozen food business grew at 4.1 per cent, ahead of market growth of 3.2 per cent. The chilled food business, too, grew by a solid 7.7 per cent - although the market here grew at a faster 10.1 per cent rate.
Greencore has also been busy in the US and acquired MarketFare in April and Schau in June, as well as entering into a partnership with Starbucks. Taken together, the US businesses now generate over $200m (£125m) of annualised revenue.
Broker Panmure Gordon expects adjusted pre-tax profit of £63.9m for 2013, giving adjusted EPS of 14.6p (2012: 12.6p).
GREENCORE (GNC) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 95p | MARKET VALUE: | £374m | |
| TOUCH: | 94-95p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 95p | LOW: 50p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 4.5% | PE RATIO: | 11 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 50p** | NET DEBT: | 129% | |
| Year to 28 Sep | Turnover (€bn) | Pre-tax profit (€m) | Earnings per share (¢)* | Dividend per share (¢)* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 1.31 | 41.8 | 13.7 | 10.7 |
| 2009 | 1.10 | -0.41 | -2.54 | 5.96 |
| (£bn) | (£m) | (p) | (p) | |
| 2010 | 0.74 | 26.2 | 8.10 | 4.81† |
| 2011 | 0.80 | 11.2 | 7.00 | 3.85† |
| 2012 | 1.16 | 28.9 | 9.00 | 4.25 |
| % change | +45 | +158 | +29 | +10 |
Ex-div: 5 Dec Payment: 3 Apr £1=€1.24 *Adjusted for 2011's five-for-six rights issue **Includes intangible assets of £502m or 128p a share †5.96¢ in 2010 and 4.78¢ in 2011, adjusted for rights issue and converted at current exchange rate | ||||
