Mr Kipling maker Premier Foods expects profit at top end of market view

Mr Kipling maker Premier Foods expects profit at top end of market view

(Reuters) -Premier Foods on Thursday forecast full-year profit at the top end of market expectations after the company reported higher sales for the first quarter.

A slight cooling in British food inflation brought relief to cash-strapped consumers, with companies like Premier capping further price hikes for the year.

“Our sales performance was broad based, supported by ongoing brand investment, new product development such as Mr Kipling Brownie Bites and strong in-store activation,” CEO Alex Whitehouse said in a statement.

The maker of Mr Kipling cakes and OXO cubes said sales in the first quarter saw a growth of 21.1% and it gained further grocery market share of 94 basis points.

Analysts on average had expected trading profit for the year at 163.7 million pounds, according to a company-compiled consensus.

(Reporting by Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)