Sandwiches and sushi surge prompts Greencore to lift profit forecast

Chief Executive of Greencore, Dalton Philips. The Irish convenience food giant has lifted its annual profit forecast to €144m driven by strong demand for food to go like sandwiches and sushi in the UK.

Irish convenience food giant Greencore has lifted its annual profit forecast to €144m driven by strong demand for food to go like sandwiches and sushi in the UK.

Greencore now expects an adjusted operating profit of about £125m (€144m), up from its previous forecast of between £118m and £121m. The revised figure surpassed market expectations of between £119.5m and £121.8m. Revenue for the year is expected to come in at £1.95bn (€2.25bn), up nearly 8% from 2024.

“We had another excellent quarter in Q4, which rounded out an exceptional year. While there are wider economic headwinds, the strong performance means we are again upgrading our full year guidance," said chief executive Dalton Philips.

"Our focus in the new financial year remains on producing high-quality, fresh food for consumers across the UK. We look forward to completing the Bakkavor transaction, subject to regulatory approval, and remain excited about the potential of combining two great UK food businesses, enhancing our product offering for our customers and UK consumers.”

Greencore launched 130 new products for the quarter ended September 26, including a range of hot and cold food to go products for a new store format, an elevated mac and cheese range and premium cooking sauces.

Greencore aims to expand its business through a planned £1.2bn (€1.38bn) acquisition of UK peer Bakkavor, in addition to more food-to-go product launches and contracts with supermarkets.

Bakkavor supplies 3,500 products across meals, pizza, bread, salads and desserts to grocery retailers in the UK and US and international food brands in China. It employs 17,200 workers across 41 sites in the UK, US and China. 

Headquartered in Dublin, Greencore supplies nearly 750m food-to-go items each year and employs about 13,300 staff. Once the deal with Bakkavor is completed, it will create a convenience foods giant in Britain with a combined revenue of £4bn (€4.6bn) and approximately 30,500 employees.

The deal, announced in May, is expected to close next year subject to regulatory approval. Britain's competition watchdog is likely to disclose the outcome of its phase 1 investigation into the deal later this month.

Additional reporting by Reuters