Greencore, the Dublin-headquartered supplier of convenience food to the UK market reported a 140% increase in adjusted operating profit to £28.3m (€33.2m) for the first six months of its financial year.

Revenue during the period declined by 6.4% to £886.1m (€1,039m) with the fall due to the disposal of one business and a management decision to exit a number of low-returning contracts during the year.

Volumes in the remaining business increased by 1.2% while prices rose 2.9%.

Greencore said that, with the exception of labour costs, it is seeing slowing inflation across its main input components.

It noted that labour costs for the company would continue to increase in 2024 following the introduction of a further national living wage increase in the UK in April.

The company said that among the initiatives it has undertaken to address its cost base is entering partnerships with academic institutions on industrial robotics development to support increased manufacturing automation across production lines.

Financial performance

Dalton Philips, Greencore CEO, said: “The Group’s accelerating financial performance is very encouraging as we focus on driving profitability and returns.” It seems investors are also encouraged by the performance, with shares in Greencore rising by almost 20% to trade at the highest level in three years in the wake of the company’s trading update.