Star progress for Northern

In a trading statement for the half year to the end of September, Northern said its trading performance “showed consistent progress in a challenging external environment, with total revenue up 6.5% on the prior year. The company was recovering input cost inflation through selling price increases averaging 5.6%, which offset lower volumes of 1.7%, Revenue by division saw chilled food sales up 4.5%, demonstrating “our superior product offering against a backdrop of a decline in the ready meals market”. The recently acquired chilled soup site at Grimsby had now been commissioned in readiness for the traditional peak winter sales period. Revenue growth in sandwiches, salads and chilled pizza, at 1.0%, was slowed by the poor summer weather. In the Bakery division growth had continued, with underlying revenue up 6.7% on the first half of 2007/08, reflecting the early benefits of ongoing investment in the Fox's biscuits brand via the `Vinnie' advertising campaign. At the end of the campaign another 1.6 million households were buying Fox's Biscuits, Northern said. In Puddings, retailer orders for Christmas were also good. Frozen division revenue was up 10.2%, supported by higher selling prices. The Goodfella's pizza brand had maintained a strong share, and further cost efficiencies will be delivered following transfer of production from the company’s Poldys site to its scale pizza facility at Naas. Chief executive Stefan Barden (pictured) said: “Northern Foods continues to make good progress in the development of our business, despite the challenging environment. We have excellent products, a strong balance sheet and are making very good progress in strengthening our core business, which will enable us to take advantage of the opportunities which this environment provides. Although profits are weighted to the second half of the year, at this stage we remain on schedule to deliver profit before tax and restructuring in line with expectations.”