Premier Foods is targeting eating occasions and changing shopper habits in order to boost sales of brands such as Mr Kipling cakes and Ambrosia desserts, according to its boss Gavin Darby.
Premier Foods has launched three new ‘Strategic Business Units’ (SBU’s) in a bid to strengthen its focus on major growth opportunities and develop more agile ways of working.
Premier Foods’s creation of three strategic business units (SBUs) may change little, as the company still faces major challenges if it is to progress, according to one industry expert.
Premier Foods is vulnerable to takeover unless it can grow its core brands – and it is running out of excuses fast, according to Panmure Gordon analyst Graham Jones.
Premier Foods has launched a joint venture with Specialty Powders to process and pack powdered drinks and desserts at its Knighton factory in Staffordshire, home to its Bird’s, Angel Delight and Marvel brands.
Premier Foods is preparing product launches and marketing campaigns to hit the market with as the dust settles following the successful completion of its refinancing deal.
Premier Foods is now set for growth after completing “a transformational restructuring” of its balance sheet, said City analyst Shore Capital in a note titled ‘At last, it’s time to get on with the day job’.
Premier Foods has revealed 18% growth in trading profit in full-year results for 2013, alongside a new pensions deal and a much-awaited major capital restructuring plan designed to “liberate the firm from its past”.
Ranjit Boparan’s 2 Sisters Food Group (2SFG) was voted one of the most admired food firms at the start of the year in a report from corporate reputation experts at Birmingham City University.
Premier Foods is continuing to review its refinancing options, the food manufacturing giant confirmed today (March 3), after weekend press reports claimed it would reveal a deal worth more than £750M this week.
Further details of a Premier Foods’s debt reduction deal did not surprise City analysts, although they claimed the press reports represented little real progress.
“The biggest overhaul of food labelling for over 25 years,” is how Premier Foods summarises the implications of the EU’s new Food Information to Consumers Regulation – due to be enforced on December 13 2014.
Premier Foods’ £87.5M joint venture with the US-based Gores Group has drawn a mixed reception from leading City analysts, as the manufacturer confirmed trading profit for the year ended December 31 would be in line with market expectations.
Reports that Premier Foods could be about to sell its Hovis brand to the Los Angeles-based Gores Group have been welcomed by City analysts Shore Capital.
Premier Foods is to invest £20M in building a new production and packing line – capable of making 300M Mr Kipling cake slices a year – at its plant near Barnsley.
Food and drink manufacturers now have less than a year to plan their response to the Food Information Regulation (FIR) – due to be enforced on December 14 2014 – but Food Manufacture’s free, one-hour webinar next month will provide timely advice.
Premier Foods’ refinancing deal, announced last week (December 19) is “a step in the right direction”, but investors will remain ambivalent until more progress is made, according to industry commentators.
Premier Foods has won the coveted title Food manufacturing company of the year, plus two other trophies in the industry’s Oscars – Food Manufacture’s Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards (FMEAs) at the London Park Lane Hilton, in a glittering awards ceremony...
Premier Foods is remaining tight-lipped about reports that the Mexican bakery Grupo Bimbo may acquire its troubled bread division, as the firm’s short-term prospects divided City opinion.
Premier Foods is ahead of target on cutting suppliers and product lines, according to ceo Gavin Darby, reporting on third quarter (Q3) financial results yesterday.
Premier Foods and the Bakers, Food & Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) have resolved the row over the use of zero hours contracts and agency labour at its Wigan bakery.
Strikes at Premier Foods’ Hovis bakery in Wigan show no sign of ending, with attitudes hardening, as the second week of industrial action draws to a close.
Signalling a key vote of faith in debt-laden Premier Foods, leading City analyst Shore Capital has upgraded its advice on the firm’s stock from ‘hold’ to ‘buy’.
Premier Foods moved to reassure customers that bakery supplies would not be disrupted as the first of three threatened strikes kicked off at its Hovis bread factory in Wigan.
Premier Foods staff at its Hovis Wigan bakery have voted for strike action in protest at the use of agency workers on zero-hours contracts following permanent employees’ redundancies and pay cuts.
Former Premier Foods boss Michael Clarke may play a pivotal role in the future of Lucozade and Ribena after reports linked him to a firm believed to be considering a bid for the brands.
Workers are planning strike action at Premier Foods’ Wigan bakery over use of agency labour and shift pattern changes, while the firm’s bakeries at Birmingham and Greenford shut on schedule.
Premier Foods is reportedly following the lead set by some multiple retailers in seeking to reduce costs by cutting the numbers of its suppliers while recouping cash from those that continue to supply it.
Three City analysts have welcomed Premier Foods’ six-month results but continued to worry about the food manufacturer’s growth prospects and debt burden.
Premier Foods will continue to develop its Power Brands and deliver a further £10M of cost savings this year, according to a statement accompanying its half-year results posted today (July 23).
The food industry could witness licensing deals similar to the one recently announced by 2 Sisters Food Group and Premier Foods over Hovis Breakfast Bakes biscuits, according to analysts.
The closure of Premier Foods’ Barry mill in the Vale of Glamorgan – with the loss of 43 jobs last week – and plans to reorganise its milling business into two parts could herald its sale, according to City analyst Investec.
Premier Foods plans to cut 43 jobs with the closure of its mill in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, by the end of October, in a bid to align capacity with market demands.
Britain’s biggest food manufacturer Premier Foods will seek refinancing over the next six to 18 months to further improve its balance sheet, predicts City analyst Shore Capital.
Britain’s biggest food manufacturer Premier Foods has reported growth in power and grocery brands but tough going for its bread division, in its full year financial results for the year to December 31 2012 published yesterday (February 21).
Britain’s biggest food manufacturer Premier Foods could be forced to compromise its recovery plan by selling key power brands to boost its troubled balanced sheet, according to a leading City analyst.
Four months after joining Premier Foods, its chief operating officer Geoff Eaton has left the firm, on the same day (February 4) its new ceo Gavin Darby, joined the debt-laden food manufacturer.
The boss of Britain’s biggest food manufacturer, Premier Foods, has quit the debt-laden company today (January 28) after only 18 months, in a move that surprised City analysts.
Premier Foods' "short and sweet" trading statement issued yesterday (January 17) reveals the progress senior management is making in reviving the fortunes of the debt-laden food manufacturer, according to City analysts.
Britain’s biggest food manufacturer Premier Foods revealed plans yesterday (January 10) to close its Glasgow flour mill, casting doubt over the future of 15 jobs at the Dunaskin Street site.
