Premier Foods to reveal impact of Hovis

By ANNABELLE DICKSON
Published on 16/02/2013 19:24

HOVIS owner Premier Foods will serve up its full-year results on Thursday as it grapples with a major restructure of its bread business.

In November the group said it would close two bakeries and cut 900 jobs as part of plans to overhaul the struggling division, and it is set to lose a £75 million-a-year contract with a major grocer from the middle of this year.

Full-year figures, also on Thursday, will show that a flurry of favourable football results helped Ladbrokes end 2012 on a strong note.

The City expects pre-tax profits for the full year to come in 10 per cent higher than 2011 at £174m, despite reporting a 5 per cent fall in customer numbers over the summer as bad weather and the Olympic Games dented trade.

Transport giant Go-Ahead will report half-year results, also on Thursday, after it was hit with a £7m bill to compensate passengers for delays and cancellations on its London Midland franchise last year.

The group, which runs almost a third of UK train journeys and also operates Southern and Southeastern train services, is expected by JP Morgan to report £15m of underlying profits at its rail division in half-year results.

Mike Ashley’s sportswear empire will continue to reap the benefits of the collapse of rival JJB when it updates the City on Thursday. Trading at Sports Direct International, controlled by Newcastle United backer Ashley, is expected to be strong, as sales are boosted by stock bought by the group when it snapped up 20 of JJB’s shops.