Sales jump at Finsbury Food

Finsbury Food Group reported a strong start to the year on Thursday, despite mounting economic headwinds and cost inflation.

The AIM-listed company - which makes cakes, bread and other baked goods for retailers and the hospitality sector - said sales in the first four months of the current year had jumped 15.7% to £122.8m, driven by volume growth of 1.1% and price recovery of 14.6%.

Chair Peter Baker said: "Our retail business continues to perform well, foodservice continued to bounce back, and our overseas division continued to see strong growth."

He acknowledged, however, that the macroeconomic and cost inflation headwinds seen in the last year had worsened, adding: "These are set to persist for the remainder of the year, making it difficult to predict exactly how the rest of the year will unfold.

"However, we continue to mitigate through revised commercial arrangements, operational improvements and other supply chain and overhead initiatives."

Baker said Finsbury had started to see a shift in consumer behaviour, as hard pressed shoppers looked to save money and switched to cheaper own label brands.

"We believe our market position in these channels and the diversification of our product range will stand us in good stead as we navigate this challenging economic environment," he noted

As at 0930 GMT, shares in Finsbury were off 1% at 90p.