The rising cost of making its goods has pushed Mr Kipling and Oxo maker Premier Foods (PFD) to issue a profit warning.
Chief executive Gavin Darby said "significant cost inflation in certain areas is taking longer than originally foreseen", suggesting that prices of some of its ingredients or packaging are rising rapidly, no doubt due to sterling's steep fall versus the euro and dollar. Trading profit is expected to be 10 per cent lower in the current financial year.
The company recently said prices on some of its goods may rise, but this could be a worry given that its recent update in the 13 weeks to 31 December showed that branded goods sales were 3.8 per cent lower, while non-branded sales of goods it makes on behalf of customers such as supermarkets (and which are likely to be cheaper) rose 11.6 per cent.
