UK's Cranswick raises medium-term profit margin target

(Reuters) - British meat producer Cranswick on Thursday increased its medium-term operating margin target, helped by strong demand for its pork and poultry products.

The company now expects to report an adjusted operating margin of about 7.5%, up from the over 6% expected earlier.

Cranswick, which produces fresh pork, bacon, gourmet sausages, poultry items and continental foods, saw an uptick in sales after Britons bought premium groceries despite inflationary pressure during Christmas.

It also said the outlook for the financial year ending March 29 remains in line with market expectations of an adjusted pre-tax profit of between 190 million pounds and 195.1 million pounds ($246.72-$253.34 million).

($1 = 0.7701 pounds)

(Reporting by Yamini Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Eileen Soreng)