UK food group Geest has reported a slight rise in underlying first-half profit and said sales were rising as higher demand for salads offset slightly lower demand for ready meals during the recent hot weather in the UK.
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“Second-quarter sales were higher than the first, and third-quarter sales to date are higher than the second,” finance director Mark Pullen told Reuters.
Geest, which makes salads, ready meals and pizzas for retailers such as Tesco, reported profit before tax and goodwill of £18.3m (US$29.2m) for the six months to 28 June, a rise of 3% from the year-ago period. Analysts had forecast, on average, profit of £18.1m. Geest’s first-half sales rose 10% to £442.9m.
Pullen said higher raw material costs and competition for supermarket contracts were putting pressure on margins, but he said he is comfortable with analysts’ forecasts for full-year profit of around £43.5m.
Pullen said that although the company planned to keep on making bolt-on acquisitions, Geest is not planning any big mergers or acquisitions.
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