LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Dairy Crest Group Plc (DCG.L), a dairy foods company, Monday said it expects to report overall first half Group profits broadly in line with last year in a challenging trading environment. Further, the company said its overall profit expectations for the full year ending March 31, 2015 remain unchanged.
In its pre-close trading update for the six months, the company noted that as previously reported, property profits from the sale of surplus delivery depots will make up a greater proportion of profits than in the same period last year.
Sales of four key brands, Cathedral City, Clover, Country Life and FRijj, together grew by 4% in the first quarter, and the firm expects to report a similar growth rate for the first half.
The company also expects to close Crudgington butter and spreads factory early in the second half of the year.
Mark Allen, Chief Executive, said, 'Taken together our key brands have performed strongly and the improvements we have made to our Dairies operations in recent years have made them more resilient. We continue to take the difficult decisions that are necessary to drive the business forward.'
The company is slated to release its interim results on 6 November.
Separately, Dairy Crest announced that it is starting consultation with employees and their representatives regarding the closure of its glass bottling dairy in Hanworth, West London and its specialist cream potting facility in Chard, Somerset.
The proposal to end production at Hanworth, which currently employs around 200 people, follows a strategic review of the company's residential delivery service and is necessary to protect the long-term future of this business.
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