Faccenda Foods, one of the UK’s leading food companies, has filed annual results for the 2017 financial year. While top line growth was broadly flat, from £523m to £520 million, operating profit rose from £7.7 million to £11.7 million.
Despite the challenging market, Faccenda’s continued investment throughout its supply chain, together with a continued focus on greater efficiency and productivity, contributed to improved overall financial performance.
Reflecting on the results, Faccenda Foods’ Managing Director Andy Dawkins said, “This is an extremely satisfying set of results, especially given a lot of the challenges from the previous year are still evident.”
Dawkins picked out a range of factors that contributed to a tough market: “Whether it’s continuing uncertainty after the Brexit vote, structural change in the retail market, commodity price inflation or weaker Sterling, it’s all taken place in a market that’s extremely price sensitive. We’ve concentrated on factors within our control, delivering year-on-year improvements in yield and productivity, to offset those headwinds and deliver a solid set of results.”
Despite the testing external environment Dawkins is upbeat about Faccenda’s performance and future outlook: “I’d expect cost inflation to rise ahead of wage inflation for consumers in the year ahead and contribute to another tough trading year. That said, poultry remains consumers’ first choice protein and our investment throughout our supply chain leaves us well placed to capitalise on future opportunities. The improvements we made in the last financial year will help create a springboard for further growth as part of our upcoming Joint Venture with Cargill’s UK fresh chicken business.”