UK-based cakes producer Finsbury Food Group has reported that sales for the first 20 weeks of its current fiscal year are up across all areas of the business.
The premium and speciality cake and bread maker said sales at its Memory Lane Cakes business were up by 18% for the first 20 weeks. Sales from the combined businesses of California Cakes and Campbells Cakes jumped 27%.
In addition, Finsbury reported that sales at its Nicholas and Harris bread business were up by 15%, while the Lightbody Group, acquired in February, had shown growth of 8%.
The company said the sales increases were in line with its expectations.
However, Finsbury also reported that like other food producers, it had been experiencing input cost pressures, with the main increases relating to butter and associated dairy products, flour and eggs. In a full year, this would increase material costs by nearly 10%, the company said.
Finsbury stated that the increases were planned in two phases, with the first phase already fully recovered. “Our commercial team is having a constructive dialogue with our key customers to adjust terms to recover the remainder by early 2008 at the latest and we are confident this will be achieved,” the company said.
Finsbury added that repair work following the fire at the end of October at its United Central Bakeries business had been completed with the replacement equipment now fully operational at target efficiency.
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UCB’s turnover for the month of October was up 19% on the corresponding period last year, the company stated.
Meanwhile the integration of the Anthony Alan Foods business, which was acquired in October, was progressing to plan.
