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Premier Foods today delivered a jump in sales as shoppers stocked up on Hovis bread, but also sank into the red for the first six months of the year.
Turnover at the company, which also makes Mr Kipling cakes and Bisto gravy, rose 3.5% to £1.2 billion thanks to strong demand for its bread and groceries.
It is still pretty tough out there but people are eating in a lot more and looking for brands they can trust, said chief executive Robert Schofield.
But the food manufacturer still posted a pre-tax loss of £30 million after currency hedging and a charge on its pensions. Premier's pensions deficit ballooned to £300.6 million in the period because of the miserable performance of stocks.
The Hovis advertising campaign has pushed up its share of the bread market to 26.3% the highest level since Premier bought the brand two years ago.
The group took its begging bowl to investors back in March to cut its debts, which have since been reduced to £1.48 billion from £1.8 billion.
