Premier Foods, the owner of some of the UK's most beloved food brands, reported a sweet rise in annual profit on Thursday, driven by a standout performance from Mr Kipling that helped the company beat City forecasts.
Mr Kipling's record year
Mr Kipling, known for its "exceedingly good cakes" tagline used since 1967, had its "biggest year ever" in 2025. The success was fueled by a new product line: cake tubs designed for sharing, tapping into what Chief Executive Alex Whitehouse called a "bitesize trend."
"When people want to treat themselves, they want it to be worthwhile, so indulgent, but they might only want a small amount," Whitehouse said. "This is one of the reasons we believe this range has done so well, as they are catering to the trend to treat yourself, with a small, bitesize treat."
Other innovations included Mr Kipling-branded birthday cake tarts, lunchbox slices, and breakfast bakes. "Boosted by these innovations, this has been Mr Kipling's biggest ever year," Whitehouse declared.
Financial performance
The FTSE 250 constituent reported profit before tax of £181.9 million, a rise of nearly 13% and better than expectations. Headline revenue increased 2.5% to £1.175 billion for the year to 28 March. Full-year headline branded revenue rose 3.4% overall, accelerating to 4.7% in the second half as new products, including the Fuel10k yoghurt and granola brand, gained traction.
Clive Black, a well-known analyst at Shore Capital, said: "Premier has beaten out 2026 trading profit expectations due to balanced progress across the firm, innovation, UK market share gains, and good M&A."
Operations and acquisitions
The St Albans-based company employs 4,000 people across 13 sites in the UK. It also produces Bisto, Homepride, Lloyd Grossman, and Sharwood's cooking sauces. In September, it acquired the Merchant Gourmet ready meals brand. Its two bakeries in Stoke and Carlton produce 220 million packs of cakes and pies annually.
Premier's shares rose nearly 3% to 203p, the highest level since May last year. Black added: "We see this highly successful proprietary branded British food manufacturer as being fundamentally undervalued," suggesting 250p "would be a fairer base" for the stock.
