Bakkavor Group has reported a 11.5% increase in revenue in the first quarter of its financial year, to £485.4 million (€568 million).
Pricing, good volumes, category leadership, category breadth, strong customer relationships and a strong pipeline of innovation – despite a challenging operating environment in lockdown restrictions – drove UK LFL sales growth, the company reported.
In addition, Bakkavor's Delicious Dessert Company, launched in April 2021, is now in more than 900 stores in the UK.
Smart Manufacturing
The company's seven UK sites are on-track to have an automated smart manufacturing system implemented by the end of this year, while planned capacity investment in Bakkavor's sites in the US is also in progress, it noted.
Successful price recovery, stringent focus on cost control and efficiency improvements during regional restrictions in China have also proved beneficial.
Leverage was maintained at 1.9x, with more than £180 million (€210 million) of liquidity headroom on debt facilities of £487.8 million (€571 million).
Bakkavor received a rating of A in the latest MSCI ESG Ratings assessment. The company is reportedly advancing in its roadmap to reach Net Zero by 2040.
'A Positive Start'
Commenting on the group's performance, Agust Gudmundsson, chief executive, said, “The group has had a positive start to the year, successful price recovery has helped offset the impact of inflation in the period, and our teams have worked hard to deliver excellent service levels for our customers.
“We expect the trading environment to remain challenging and for input costs to continue to escalate. However, we remain well placed to navigate the ongoing headwinds, as our price recovery to date, combined with our continued drive for efficiency improvements and disciplined approach to cost control will help to mitigate the impact."
© 2022 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest supply chain news. Article by Nikita Naz Siddique. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
