Finsbury Foods share price soars as Disney Frozen cakes remain Christmas hit
Disney’s Frozen cakes usually fly off the shelves for birthdays, but their success this Christmas helped sales soar at Finsbury Foods.
The cake and bread manufacturer said total sales in the first half to 27 December jumped 24 per cent to £107.6m, thanks to strong demand for the Disney-themed sponge as well as its seasonal cakes such as the Christmas log.
The Aim-listed group’s £56m acquisition of rival baker Fletchers in October also contributed £16m of extra sales revenue.
Finsbury sells own-brand cakes to UK retailers including Tesco, and also makes products under license for Thorntons, Disney and Weight Watchers.
Buying Fletchers has doubled the size of the group and given Finsbury access to the food service sector, selling fresh and frozen products from doughnuts to hot dog buns to food outlets, pubs, cafes and even prisons.
“The Fletchers acquisition, while still in early stages of group integration, has shown very positive signs of growth and progress,” chief executive John Duffy said yesterday.
“ In addition, our capital investment programme continues and has laid the foundation for the group’s positioning in a market experiencing industry-wide pressures,” he added.
Shares surged 7.2 per cent on the back of the strong results.