Premier Foods praises Mr Kipling; ups dividend as annual profit grows
Premier Foods PLC on Thursday said its Mr Kipling’s signature premium ranges ‘performed very well’ as it announced annual and revenue growth.
The St Albans, Hertfordshire-based maker of branded and non-branded food, also owner of Homepride cooking sauces and Oxo stock cubes said pretax profit climbed 6.5% to £161.3 million in the financial year ended March 29, from £151.4 million a year prior.
Revenue rose 1.0% to £1.15 billion from £1.14 billion.
‘Branded volumes were strong throughout [financial 2025], reflecting strong execution of the Branded growth model, alongside sharper promotional price points across both Mr Kipling and Cadbury cake. Mr Kipling’s Signature premium ranges performed very well; Brownie Bites grew by 78%, best ever mince pies doubled revenue through expanded distribution and indulgent chocolate and caramel layer cakes were launched to market,’ the company said.
It added it had a ‘particularly’ strong performance in Canada: ‘Mr Kipling slices are now available in 1,000 Canadian stores across four major retailers with Vanilla slices the strongest seller.’
Premier Foods proposed a dividend of 2.8 pence per share, up 62% from 1.73p a year ago.
The company said it expects to deliver further progress against its strategic pillars this year as it kept expectations for trading profit growth unchanged.
Chief Executive Officer Whitehouse said the company expects revenue growth to be boosted by ‘strong’ product innovation.
He added: ‘In line with our capital allocation framework, we will continue to invest in projects to both increase efficiencies and automation and facilitate growth through product innovation and capacity while we also remain focused on pursuing merger & acquisition opportunities where we can add value to brands through the application of our branded growth model.’
Premier Foods shares rose 0.7% to 201.00 pence each on Thursday morning in London.
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