Greencore Group – food group excellent finals should help to boost shares higher, now 233p, TP 300p

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 18.11.2025

The 52-week period to Friday 26^th September saw Greencore Group (LON:GNC), the Dublin-based convenience foods manufacturer, report a very impressive set of results.

The group declared a strong financial year, with revenue increasing by 7.7% to £1,947.0m (£1,807.1m) and adjusted operating profit growing by 28.9% to £125.7m (£97.5m), leading to an improved adjusted operating margin of 6.5% (5.4%).

There was a 29.3% increase in pre-tax profits at £79.5m (£61.5m).

The company also saw a significant increase in free cash flow to £120.5m and a reduction in net debt to £70.1m, while return on invested capital rose to 15.0%.

Adjusted earnings per share put on a massive 46.5% leap to 18.6p (12.7p), while the dividend for the year rose 30% to 2.6p (2.0p) per share.

In March this year, the group made a recommended acquisition of Bakkavor Group.

That deal is progressing, with a proposed remedy of selling the chilled soups and sauces site at Bristol to address regulatory concerns, with the transaction now expected to complete in early 2026.

Importantly, Greencore anticipates another year of profitable growth in FY26.

The Business

Employing some 13,000 people, Greencore is a leading manufacturer of convenience food in the UK.

It supplies all of the major supermarkets in the UK, as well as convenience and travel retail outlets, discounters, coffee shops, foodservice and other retailers.

The group has strong market positions in a range of categories including sandwiches, salads, sushi, chilled snacking, chilled ready meals, chilled soups and sauces, chilled quiche, ambient sauces, pickles and frozen Yorkshire Puddings.

In FY25 it manufactured 764m sandwiches and other food to go products, 148m chilled ready meals, and 200m bottles of cooking sauces, dips and table sauces.

The group carries out more than 9,900 direct to store deliveries each day.

It has 16 world-class manufacturing sites and 17 distribution centres in the UK, with industry-leading technology and supply chain capabilities.

Management Comment

CEO Dalton Philips stated that:

"Greencore delivered an outstanding performance in FY25, which is a credit to our 13,300 colleagues and our partnership with customers and suppliers.

We reported strong growth against all key financial measures and have met our medium-term ROIC target, established only nine months ago.

Momentum has continued into the new financial year and I'm excited for what's to come in FY26, a year that also marks Greencore's 100th year in business.

As we celebrate that milestone, we will continue to invest into strengthening our customer partnerships and managing our cost base closely.

The Bakkavor acquisition brings two great businesses together and creates real value - for customers, consumers and our colleagues.

We're already collaborating closely with the Bakkavor team on integration planning and we look forward to bringing the businesses together in early 2026."

Broker’s Target Prices

There are at least three brokers following the group, with mixed ratings – one is a Buy, one is a Hold, while the third rates the group’s shares to Outperform.

The analyst consensus suggests that the average Target Price is 258p, with the Lowest call at 185p, and the Highest being 300p.

In My View

In late July this year I suggested that potential investors should wait for profit-taking on the shares, then 269p.

Two days later they hit 281p, before subsequently falling back to 220p a month ago.

Last night they closed at 225p before reacting well to today’s news, with early dealings this morning taking them up 4.24% to 233.50p.

Now could well see investors taking a confident view of the group’s 2026 prospects, with a climb back up to trade the 225p to 260p price range.