Uniq in good shape for imminent acquisition

UNIQ — the British convenience food group about to be taken over by Greencore — has reported a significant return to profit for the first half of 2011.

The Buckinghamshire-based group generated an unaudited pre-tax profit of £69.2 million (€79.2m) for the six months to the end of June. This marked a significant turnaround from an £11.2m loss generated in the first half of last year. Operating profit rose from £1.7m to £71.5m on a year-on-year basis and basic earnings per share, for the first half, jumped from 21.3p to 60.8p. Group revenue fell, however, from £311.9m to £151.8m. Uniq’s first half operating profit — excluding significant items and group costs — was up by 47%, year-on-year, to £4.7m.

Sales in Uniq’s desserts division fell by 8.2%, year-on-year, mainly as a result of the loss of some low margin everyday desserts business, following price increases.