Is it crunch time for Northern Foods?

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Manufacturing News, Source : TheManufacturer.com
Published : 30 May 2007 15:56
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Northern Foods, the makers of Fox’s Biscuits and Goodfella's pizza see pre-tax profits fall.

The food manufacturer’s profits fell from £45.1 million to £41.3 million after reporting its full year figures, however, operations sales were three per cent higher, reaching a total of £888.5 million.

Raw material costs have been on the up in recent months, particularly in the chocolate sector, leaving Northern with no choice but to pass extra costs onto its retailers and consumers.

According to the BBC, analysts are concerned how Northern will push through these cost increases.

Northern, which has been restructured, has sold off 40 per cent of its business over the last 12 months, but has no current plans to sell its biscuit division.

CEO Stefan Barden said: "We plan to keep the business. Clearly, if someone came in with an extremely high offer we would consider it but we see it as a profit opportunity for ourselves."