Premier Foods has said that it is "encouraged" by the progress it is making in the market, following a Q3 in which it posted a sales decline of 3.2%, compared to the same period last year.
In a statement issued this morning, Premier Foods said that sales in the quarter stood at £243.2 million, down from £292.5 million in the same period last year. However, sales of its 'Grocery Power Brands' rose 2% to £125.9 million.
"Overall, I'm encouraged by the progress we are making in what continues to be a highly competitive market," said Gavin Darby, Chief Executive Officer. "The intensity of promotional activity in our markets remains high while our categories were significantly impacted by the hotter weather in July and early August. "We continue to make good progress against our strategic priorities supporting our category based approach. We have grown our Grocery Power Brands for a further quarter, completed a major restructuring of our Bread supply chain and our plans to reduce complexity across the business remain on track."
Brands that performed well for the group in the period were Ambrosia ("growing share in an expanding market"), Mr Kipling ("its highest share position for over two years") and Bisto ("sales ahead of last year").
The company said that it has a "well planned and solid programme of activity" in place for the coming Christmas trading period.
© 2013 - Checkout Magazine by Stephen Wynne-Jones
