Uniq continues recovery

In the six months to 30 June, revenue increased to £394 million (£360m) while a pre-tax loss of 18.3 million last time was turned into a modest £800,000 pre-tax profit. Chief Executive Geoff Eaton (pictured) said: "It has been a tough first half of the year but we are taking action to ensure we are able to meet the challenges ahead and we remain confident of making significant further progress in unlocking the true potential of Uniq." In it’s half yearly report, Uniq said; “As we reach the half way point in our five year recovery plan, we are pleased to report further underlying progress in the first six months of this year. Whilst the results for the period were held back by the challenging economic environment, we have continued to drive operational improvements across the business. The current trading environment has introduced increased uncertainty. However, we have a strong management team to deal with these conditions and a significant agenda of change and improvement across the business.” However, inflationary pressures continued, the company said, and margin management would be an ongoing challenge. A further round of cost reduction had been implemented and a business improvement programme continued to increase efficiency. At the end of April, the closure of Uniq’s desserts facility at Paigntonwas announced and now, the recovery of the Minsterley plant had created sufficient capacity to absorb the Paignton volumes and leave adequate room for future growth. In the Netherlands, after a disappointing first quarter, the salads business started to show signs of improvement in the second quarter; the sandwich business had a very good first half with even higher growth expected in the second half; and Poland continued to grow strongly and was delivering improving efficiencies in the factory. In France, progress had been made across all aspects of the business.