Finsbury Food Group expects to continue its promotional activity over the next six months even after a year when the UK cake and bread maker had to promote its products more than it wanted to, its chief executive has said.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Martin Lightbody, who today (30 September) step down as Finsbury chief executive and become the group’s chairman in November, said the “fragile” UK economy meant the group would keep promoting its portfolio.
“We do not envisage any less promotional activity in the less six months in certain arenas. I think we’ll be kidding ourselves if we think it’s a big bed of roses,” Lightbody said.
Earlier today, Finsbury posted a 34.7% fall in pre-tax profits to GBP5m (US$8m) for the year to 4 July.
EBITDA stood at GBP10.4m compared to GBP13.3m a year earlier, while net profit reached GBP1.4m – a fall of almost two thirds on the year.
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalDataFinsbury’s shares tumbled in early trading, and although the stock did improve throughout the day, the company saw its shares end the day down almost 11% at 28.5p.
However, Lightbody preferred to focus on the positives of a year in which revenue rose 8% to GBP178.9m.
“Overall, we’re pretty pleased with the way we ended up, with cake sales up 2% and bread sales up 14% in a really difficult period when, quite frankly, we promoted than we would have ideally wished to,” Lightbody said. “We managed to grow the Thorntons cake by 70% [and] the Weight Watchers [cake] by 25%.”
Finsbury plans to roll out free-from bread brand Genius across other UK multiples this year after an exclusive initial listing in Tesco. Lightbody said the company plans to invest in capital expenditure to cope with the roll out.
“It’s a really strong arena for us. We’ve got a leading position in this fast-growing free-from market so we’ve got to be enthusiastic,” Lightbody added.
With Lightbody set to become Finsbury chairman after a year as chief executive, he said he had planned for COO John Duffy to take the helm at the company.
“When I took over, I was only ever really going to do it for a year, which is why, at the same time, I brought in John Duffy as chief operating officer to work beside me and make sure we are aligned in our thinking and our strategy. It was always planned,” Lightbody said.
