Commenting on the firm’s first quarter results for the 13 weeks ended October 27, Boparan said: “We have made a solid start to our new financial year, in challenging market conditions.
Despite the tough consumer environment and lapping sales gains made last year, we grew sales during the first quarter as we work hard to deliver food for every meal occasion.”
Boparan added that trading conditions remained challenging, with “high food commodity inflation, notably poultry feed costs and increased levels of promotions”.
Higher feed costs
But 2 Sisters had made good progress in recovering the impact of higher feed costs, he said.
Like-for-like sales grew 5% to £587M and pre-exceptional operating profits rose 13% to £30.7M in the 13 weeks to October 27.
While the firm reported growth in its chilled and poultry divisions, branded goods performance was steady and the biscuits market was “tough”.
Boparan said he expected the trend for market growth in poultry to continue over the longer term, driven both by its relatively lower cost than other meats and its health attributes.
