The company, which has its headquarters in Dublin, now expects full year adjusted operating profit to be between £88m and £90m (€105m-€107m). This is ahead of its previous guidance of £86m-£88m and current market expectations.
In a trading update for the 13 weeks to the end of June, its third quarter, Greencore said reported revenues for this quarter decreased by 6pc to £465.2m, after it exited from some low-margin contracts and sold its Trilby Trading business last September.
But on a like-for-like basis, Q3 revenues were up 1.4pc year on year.
The company, which is the biggest maker of pre-packed sandwiches in the UK, saw a broadly flat like-for-like performance in that category, but a decline of 1pc in the overall market.
Greencore is the biggest maker of pre-packed sandwiches in the UK
It saw a positive performance across other key categories such as chilled ready meals, and cooking sauce. The sushi category experienced volume growth in the quarter, but the salads category was more challenged.
Greencore added that its previously announced £30m share buyback is continuing and progressing well.
As part of a previously announced £50m return to shareholders, the company confirmed that it intends to declare a dividend for the year to September 2024.
Greencore chief executive officer Dalton Philips said: “Q3 represents another excellent performance by the business against a tough comparative period.
“Our continued progress has been delivered through ongoing impactful operational and commercial initiatives, which we are continuing to implement at pace, supporting the improved profit conversion in the quarter.
“While the fourth quarter remains a seasonally important trading period, our continued strong profit-conversion performance means we now expect to deliver a full year adjusted operating profit of £88m-£90m, ahead of previous guidance and market expectations.”
They made 779m sandwiches and other ‘food to go’ products last year
The company says it manufactured 779 million sandwiches and other ‘food to go’ products in its last financial year, as well as 132 million chilled ready-meals, and 245 million jars of cooking sauces, pickles and condiments.
It did 10,400 direct-to-store deliveries each day, and said it has 16 manufacturing sites in the UK as well as 17 distribution centres.
Greencore generated revenues of £1.9bn in its 2023 financial year, and employed 13,600 people.
