Finsbury Food (FIF) chief executive John Duffy referred to this set of results as a “step forward in a difficult period”. The bakery boss said added costs, from higher prices for ingredients such as butter and flour to the new national living wage, acted as a headwind during the period. Closure of the lossmaking Grain D’Or factory added to these costs. Together, this meant that pre-tax profits fell two-thirds to £4.5m, but strip out these factors and this metric was up 4 per cent to £17.2m. The group is attempting to offset some of these cost increases by becoming more efficient, including automating parts of the production line.
Since the period-end, Finsbury Foods has moved further into the gluten-free market with the acquisition of Ultrapharm for £17m in cash at completion plus a deferred consideration of £3m. Mr Duffy said the deal would give the group access to the high-growth 'free from' market, as well as expand its manufacturing capabilities in Europe and increase the group’s scale.
Analysts at Panmure Gordon expect adjusted pre-tax profits of £19m during the year to June 2019, giving EPS of 10.8p, compared with £17.9m and 9.8p in FY2018.
| FINSBURY FOOD (FIF) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 124p | MARKET VALUE: | £162m | |
| TOUCH: | 123-125p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 131p | LOW: 99p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.7% | PE RATIO: | 73 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 79p* | NET DEBT: | 15% | |
| Year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2014 | 176 | 6.6 | 6.7 | 1.0 |
| 2015 | 256 | 8.5 | 5.8 | 2.5 |
| 2016 | 320 | 11.8 | 6.1 | 2.8 |
| 2017 | 314 | 13.0 | 7.1 | 3.0 |
| 2018 | 304 | 4.5 | 1.7 | 3.3 |
| % change | -3 | -66 | -76 | +10 |
| Ex-div: | 22 Nov | |||
| Payment: | 21 Dec | |||
| *Includes £83.3m of intangible assets, or 64p a share | ||||
