Company Announcements

23 May 2019

Bakkavor Group plc

Trading Update

Bakkavor Group plc ("Bakkavor" or "the Group"), the leading provider of fresh prepared food, will provide the following update on trading for the period from 30 December 2018 to date ("the period") at its Annual General Meeting today.

As we outlined at the 2018 full year results presentation, subdued consumer confidence and inflationary pressures continued into 2019. Trading since the year end has been in line with management expectations and our guidance for the full year remains unchanged, with Group performance broadly in line with 2018.

We continue to invest for the long-term and have further strengthened our position in the important desserts category through the recently announced acquisition of Blueberry Foods. In addition, as we maintain our focus on protecting margins, at the end of April we completed the closure of Freshcook, a loss-making site in the UK. Elsewhere across the Group, we continue to seek further opportunities to increase operating efficiencies and optimise capacity.

Demand is strong in our International markets; we are excited by the opportunities and continue to structure our businesses in the US and China for long-term growth.

Despite current UK market challenges, we remain confident that our strategy, combined with our scale and expertise, leaves us well placed to capitalise on future growth opportunities.

ENQUIRIES

Institutional investors and analysts:

Peter Gates, Chief Financial Officer

Sally Barrett-Jolley, Head of Corporate Affairs                                                       +44 (0) 20 7908 6143

Media:

Tulchan Communications                                                                                       +44 (0) 20 7353 4200

Catherine James, Will Smith, Jessica Reid

LEI number: 213800COL7AD54YU9949 

DISCLAIMER - FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS 

This trading update, prepared by Bakkavor Group plc (the "Company"), may contain forward-looking statements about Bakkavor Group plc and its subsidiaries (the "Group"). Forward-looking statements involve uncertainties because they relate to events, and depend on circumstances, that will, or may, occur in the future. If the assumptions on which the Group bases its forward-looking statements change, actual results may differ from those expressed in such statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements. Nothing in this statement should be construed as a profit forecast.