Greencore Group, the international convenience food producer, has reported an 8.5% growth in operating profit to £43.5m during its H1 period.

The unaudited figures for the 26 weeks ended 25 March 2016 showed an 8.1% rise in group revenue from £639.8m to £691.6m and food-to-go revenue was also up 12.7% on a like-for-like basis.

The company confirmed a strategic commitment to growing its leadership in the food-to-go market and reported 13.1% growth for this sector in the UK. The company said this had been driven by successful product relaunches and annualisation of business wins.

Greencore also highlighted its investment in its UK production sites – recent work on the company’s Northampton campus is reported to have been completed, and an additional unit is due to be commissioned next spring. Plans were also announced to add several new production lines at the company’s other UK sandwich facilities.

Backdrop to business "uncertain"

In its outlook, Greencore said that the UK backdrop to its business remained uncertain due to the changing nature of the grocery industry and other potential economic headwinds. However, the company added it remained confident it would be able to deliver a future performance in line with market expectations.

Patrick Coveney, chief executive officer at Greencore, said: “Our strategy of focusing on the UK and US food-to-go markets is working well and we are continuing to invest in capacity and capability initiatives to support the substantial future growth pipeline. We are confident of further progress in the months and years ahead.”