Real Good Food hails 'very positive' trading

Food manufacturer Real Good Food said on Thursday that trading in the new financial year had been "very positive".

In a statement ahead of its annual meeting, the company said leveraging its recent investment in a new manufacturing line had almost doubled capacity, with new business being secured as it worked closely with its principal customers.

However, trading in the cake decoration business had been "challenging", particularly in the US market, leading the board to take actions to improve customer service levels, product quality and operational efficiencies in order to deliver sales and margin growth in markets that were "generally flat".

Chairman Mike Holt said RGF was "well-positioned" to make further progress and improve operating profit "significantly" this year as the issues of recent years had largely been resolved.

Holt acknowledged that shareholder debt remained "high", reflecting the historic issues of the group, but said it had now stabilised and was modestly reduced in recent months.

"The group will continue to seek to repay shareholder loans as soon as cash flow backed lending becomes available from commercial sources," Holt said.

As of 0940 BST, RGF shares were down 1.82% to 6.75p.