Food and agriculture group Greencore said its convenience foods division had a difficult second half of the year.

Unseasonable weather in the UK and unrecovered raw material price inflation contributed to an expected decline in operating profits of 8% year on year.

In a trading statement ahead of financial year end on 28 September 2007, Greencore said it was confident the combination of strong operational performance, pricing improvements, tight cost management and new commercial initiatives would enable it to deliver good growth in 2008.