Thursday 21 July 2016 9:14 am

Ooh arr: Mr Kipling owner boosted by Ambrosia and Loyd Grossman

Mr Kipling and Ambrosia custard maker Premier Foods said it expects to avoid any trouble from Brexit as it reported sales growth.

The figures

Premier, which earlier this year resisted a takeover attempt by US firm McCormick, reported group sales growth of 1.9 per cent for the 13 weeks to 2 July.

Bisto had “strong momentum”, Loyd Grossman sauces performed well, Ambrosia returned to growth and Cadbury Amaze Bites also reported “strong sales”.

But Mr Kipling’s performance during the period was not exceedingly good, with sales lower “as a result of higher promotional activity in the prior year period”.

Premier said international sales were up five per cent due to a strong performance in Australia. The group also said it is making good progress in extending its cake brands’ reach in the US and Middle East.

At the time of writing, on Thursday morning, Premier Foods’ share price was up 0.4 per cent to 46.67p.

[charts-share-price id="372"]

Why it’s interesting

Premier’s share price was barely touched by the EU referendum result, and is at a higher level now than on 23 June.

But the company’s board came under pressure earlier this year when it resisted approaches from McCormick.

Premier’s share price reached heights of 60p in March and April before McCormick gave up on its pursuit.

What the company said

Chief executive Gavin Darby:

We are very pleased by the further improvement in our sales performance, which demonstrates four consecutive quarters of growth and continued momentum in the business. Our category strategy of investing behind our brands continues to deliver results, despite the wider deflationary grocery market in the UK. While the economic environment is more uncertain following the EU referendum outcome, our immediate financial exposure is expected to be limited. Given our strong brands and UK manufacturing cost base, we believe we remain well placed to make progress and our expectations for the full year remain unchanged.