The company made the statement in an update on trading for the 53 weeks ended July 2 2016, prior to entering its close period.
The board said that, following the positive half-year trading performance, strong trading had continued in the second half.
It said the group was confident of delivering profits in line with market expectations, which were upgraded following the strong first half of the year.
Total company sales revenues grew to £319.7M, an increase of 24.8% on the previous year.
Revenue growth followed the successful integration of the acquisitions of Fletchers and Johnstone’s, it said.
Like-for-like growth was £12.8M, an increase of 5% versus the prior year.
UK bakery grew 3%
The company said that the UK Bakery division grew by 3% on a like-for-like basis.
Sales to the foodservice channel accounted for 21% of total UK bakery sales revenues and grew by 5.3% on a like-for-like basis.
The overseas division, which is a 50% owned European business, grew by 25.7%.
It said: “The second half performance of the company benefited from a growth in sales revenues typically ahead of our UK markets, the rate of growth against prior year was lower than the first-half performance as we annualise against strong sales in the second half of the prior year.”
Further acquisitions
The group said it would increase capital investment, and continue with innovation, which would put it in a strong position to further growth organically or via further acquisitions.
On Brexit, it was “too early” to fully understand the impact, it said. But the board believed that as a strong multi-channel business with a large diversified speciality bakery group, it was equipped to manage the potential effects.
Finsbury Food Group chief executive John Duffy said: “Delivering significant growth across all divisions on a like-for-like basis is a true achievement and we are very pleased to see our sales revenues ahead of the markets we operate in
“This growth is underpinned by capital investment and our continued focus on innovation, maintaining our position as one of the UK's largest speciality bakery groups.
Finsbury was well placed to continue its solid performance and drive growth, he concluded.
Finsbury Food Group results – at a glance
- Total company sales revenues £319.7M
- Like-for-like growth £12.8M
- Foodservice accounts for 21% of total UK bakery sales
- UK Bakery Division grew by 3% on a like-for-like basis