Premier Foods enjoys grocery and bakery growth

For the future, a firm offer of about £8m has been received from Nutrixo SAS for Premier’s Le Pain Croustillant and Sofrapain SAS businesses, and the company is now considering the proposed sale of the remaining business in its Speciality Bakery Group in France, Martine Spécialités SAS.

Progress on the integration of RHM and Campbell’s into the group during 2008 is also said to be on schedule, with nine manufacturing sites closing since November 2007 and SAP having been implemented smoothly throughout the organisation.

On track to deliver £113m of annual cost ‘synergies’ from 2010, the integration programme is expected to be completed during 2009 with the roll-out of SAP to the company’s Manor Bakeries cake business, the opening of a new group-wide shared service centre in Manchester, and further reorganisation of its Grocery division logistics network.

“The manufacturing phase of our transformation programme is now complete, resulting in significant improvements in operational efficiency across our supply chain,” said Robert Schofield, chief executive, Premier Foods. “The completion of our manufacturing programme now enables us to move our focus on to new product development and innovation.

“We’re pleased by the progress we’ve made in 2008 against the backdrop of an increasingly tough environment for the UK consumer. The significant momentum we’ve generated in the second half of 2008 in our Grocery and Hovis divisions, and the enhanced efficiency of our manufacturing base, give us confidence that Premier is well positioned to meet the challenges of the current economic downturn. We look forward to making further progress in 2009.”