Ice-cream sales boost Richmond Foods earnings

Richmond Foods, the UK ice-cream manufacturer, saw its full-year pre-tax profit jump by 28% as it continued to lift its share of the ice-cream market.

Pre-tax profit before exceptional items for the year to end September was £10.50m (€15.07m), up from £8.2m (€11.77m) the previous year.

Sales grew by 9% to £127.2m, boosted by July and August's sunny weather in Britain.

The market for ice creams and frozen desserts in Britain is dominated by a few companies.

Troubled Irish company Hibernia Foods, which is currently in receivership, is a major player in the industry with its frozen own-label desserts division.