Premier Foods announced its yearly results with pre-tax profit up 74pc

Manufacturer Premier Foods saw its pre-tax profit surge by 74 per cent in the last year ending 31 March and its earnings per share up almost 29 per cent.

The figures

The company announced that its pre-tax profit had increased to £20.9m up from £12m the year before, making it a 74 per cent increase.

In addition, the earning per share rose from 0.7p to 0.9p which is an increase of almost 29 per cent. The company's net debt was reduced by £26.8m to £496.4m.

Partnerships with international food companies such as Mondelez International and Nissin resulted in a 55 per cent revenue growth and boosted its international sales by 25 per cent in the last year.

Why it's important

Premier Foods, which is responsible for brands such as Hovis, Bisto, Sharwood's and Batchelors, has had a very good year which can be seen in part as a result of its focus to branch out internationally.

The company now announced that the brand Batchelors, the brand that has products such as Cup a Soup, Pasta n' Sauce and Super Noodles under its name, was the brand with the highest growth rate among its products and has turned out to become very profitable now although it was in decline three years ago.

What Premier Foods said

Chief executive of the company Gavin Darby said: “After a slower start in the first quarter, performance accelerated during the year as planned … Three important drivers of this performance were innovation, our International business and our strategic partnerships with Nissin and Mondelez International.”

“The Batchelors brand is now the fastest growing in our portfolio having been turned around from decline three years ago to double-digit growth for the past year. This followed the launch of new products designed to meet consumer trends such as Batchelors Super Noodles pots, which sold over 13 million pots in the past year,” he said.