UK food group Premier Foods said it expects profit to rise 3.5 per cent in 2009, after reporting "good progress" for the year.
In a statement today, the company said trading profit was expected to be in the region of £320 million.
Adjusted profit before tax for the year is forecast to be about £165 million, the company said.
Branded sales growth was "encouraging" for the year, Premier said, with growth expected to reach 6.4 per cent.
Total sales for the year will be up 2.2 per cent to £2.6 billion, with branded sales accounting for £1.67 billion. This represents about 63 per cent of group sales, compared to 61 per cent the year before.
In the fourth quarter of 2009, group sales rose 1.5 on the same quarter in 2008, while branded sales grew 7 per cent.
There was also some good news for the Irish grocery market, with Premier reporting improvement during the second half of the year.
"The decline in sales seen earlier in the year has been significantly reduced and our brands are gaining market share," the company said.
"The Irish grocery retail sector has continued to adapt to the difficult economic environment with a substantial increase in sourcing directly from the UK coupled with a move to more centralised distribution."
The company said its overall grocery sector had made good progress in line with a strategy of driving branded sales.
Sales growth in the fourth quarter of the year improved on trends seen in third quarter, as year-on-year branded sales rose to more than 8 per cent.
"The sales and market share growth in our grocery business has been achieved against a backdrop of significant year on year increases in input costs reflecting market price increases in many of our raw materials in 2008 and early 2009," Premier said.
The Hovis division had a successful year, as part of its 2008 strategy to grow the brand.
Branded bakery sales for the year grew 13.3 per cent to £370 million, with the market share for Hovis up 3.0 percentage points to 25.9 per cent.
