Grupo Bimbo, the world’s largest bread baker, saw its second-quarter sales soar by 43.4% from the same period last year.

Revealing its results for the quarter, ended 30 June, the Mexico City-based company said it had achieved a revenue of 43.3bn pesos (£2.08bn) in the period.

However, it also reported a net profit of Ps887.9m (£42.75m) in the April-June quarter, compared with Ps895.5m (£43m) in the second quarter of 2011.

The increase in revenue was mostly down to its acquisition of Sara Lee in the US and the favourable exchange rate to the US dollar.

It said its gross margins were unchanged from last year at 51.1%, but added: “Pressure from higher raw material costs was offset by production efficiencies.”

Grupo Bimbo is reported to be one of the companies in the running for the bakery arm of CSM Global. The ingredients manufacturer announced in May that it was to exit the bakery sector and has effectively put its European and North American bakery businesses up for auction.

Other suitors for CSM include the Swiss-based speciality baker Aryzta and Belgian bakery group Puratos, as well as a host of private equity firms.

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