Northern Foods has said it should meet its pre-tax profit forecast for the full year, after it saw a 3.9% rise in underlying sales during the first half of 2008.
The company said that total sales jumped by 6.5% in the 26 weeks to 27 September, thanks largely to the strong performance of its bakery division.
Additionally, the maker of Fox’s Biscuits and Goodfella’s pizza said that revenue at its frozen division was up by 10.2% over the same period.
Chief executive of Northern Foods Stefan Barden claimed that the company has performed well despite “challenging” conditions.
“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,” he said.
Northern Foods revealed that revenue growth in the categories of sandwiches, salads and chilled pizza slowed because of bad weather in the summer.
Last week, Marks & Spencer said that food sales dropped by 5.9% on a like-for-like basis in the first half of the year.
Profits at Tesco grew by 10% over the same half-year.
