QUORN owner Premier Foods saw its shares soar yesterday despite revealing its sales in April had been hit by the unusually warm weather.
While its growth expectations for the year remained unchanged, Premier - which makes the meat substitute Quorn at its bases in Billingham, Teesside, and Stokesley, North Yorkshire - said sales of recently- acquired brands such as Bisto gravy and Paxo stuffing were particularly hit.
Premier added that the £1.2bn acquisition of the RHM business, which includes brands such as Mr Kipling, and its subsequent integration was going to plan. It repeated its target of making £85m of cost savings, but said further details would be revealed later this month.
Despite its below-par performance last month, shares in Premier rose five per cent to a day's high of 316.5p. Last night, its share price closed up 16.52p.
In March, Premier revealed soaring sales of Quorn, up 10.2 per cent to £110m last year. Profit also increased by a quarter to £19m.
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