Finsbury Food shrugs off rising costs to break £200m sales barrier

By GARETH MACKIE
Published on 25/07/2012 00:00

Bakery wholesaler Finsbury Food yesterday reported a 9.4 per cent rise in annual sales, despite tough market conditions and rising raw ingredient prices.

The group, which is the UK’s second largest supermarket cake supplier, said sales for the year to 30 June had increased to 
£207 million, although it had experienced a slowdown in growth during the second half.

In a trading update ahead of its full-year results, Finsbury said sales at its cake division grew to £152m, an increase of 9.2 per cent compared with last year. Half of the sales growth came from its European joint venture.

More than 1,000 people are employed at the group’s Lightbody cake plant in Hamilton, which has the exclusive rights to produce Disney-themed party cakes and also bakes products under the Thorntons brand.

Strong demand for gluten-free products helped sales at its bread and “free from” division, which includes West Lothian-based United Central Bakeries, rise 10 per cent to £55m.

Chief executive John Duffy said conditions throughout the year had remained challenging, and the firm had been forced to increase its prices because of higher egg and sugar prices.

He added: “The group has come a long way to achieve annual sales of over £200m for the first time, despite very challenging market conditions.

“This is testament to the hard work and resilience of the management teams and the quality and breadth of products they produce. With no let-up in market conditions anticipated, we continue to invest in growth areas and improved efficiency to maintain this success.”