Premier Foods
Premier Foods, the name behind Mr Kipling cakes and Birds Custard has published a trading update for the 13 weeks to end of June this morning. Management are cheering the results which saw group revenues climb 1.7%, thanks largely to a brand relaunch earlier this year of its Mr Kipling products. Interestingly, the business was caught out by the timing of Easter, which this year fell in Q1, suppressing the sales of its Cadbury-branded cake lines.
easyJet
It’s been a good quarter for easyJet by all accounts, despite the disruption of industrial action. Citing a range of factors – from a benign competitive environment to positive timing of public holidays in May – passenger numbers jumped almost 10% whilst total revenues grew 14%. Costs may have ticked up a reported 4% during the period, but against such solid financials, few will begrudge this, whilst an upward revision for full year profits – to between £550 and £590 million – seems likely to give shares a lift in early trade.
Hotel Chocolat
Sweet news from Hotel Chocolat who have this morning published a full year update. Revenues are up 12%, helped along by 15 new stores having been opened and 200,000 new online shoppers. The chocolate industry has typically come unstuck in times of hot weather, but this doesn’t seem to be a challenge for the brand, either, with management pointing out that sales of products ranging from ice cream to cocoa beer have been proving popular.
