Britain's Northern Foods said today trading over Christmas was good and that it was moving towards matching the previous year's second-half profit after a drop in the first half.
The company which is a major supplier to retailers such as Marks & Spencer said profitability in its third quarter to December 31st was ahead of the previous quarter - although still down on the comparable quarter last year.
This improvement came despite the loss of a chilled pie contract with Sainsbury and unseasonal warm weather in October and November, the group said in a trading update.
The maker of Fox's biscuits, Pork Farm pies and Goodfellas pizzas said total sales for the three months to December 31st, 2003, were 7.2 per cent ahead, while total sales to its five largest retail customers were up 8 per cent. On an underlying basis, the sales rises were both 3.5 per cent.
Supplies to five big customers - Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Sainsburys, ASDA and Safeway - make up three-quarters of Northern Food's sales.