Premier Foods – Finals next week to show that shares are cheap at 200p and deserve a Premier rating of over 16 times earnings.

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 08.05.2026

Next Thursday, 14^th May, will see Premier Foods (LON:PFD) announce its Final Results for its year to end-March – they should be good enough to get the shares now 200p driving even higher.

As one of the UK's largest food businesses, the £1.72bn-capitalised group declares that it is passionate about food and believes that each and every day it has the opportunity to enrich life for everyone. 

Ahead of next week’s results, there could well be an opportunity for investors to enjoy some enrichment too.

The group’s shares are currently trading around the 200p level, while brokers look for up to 280p in due course.

The Business

Premier Foods employs over 4,000 people operating from 13 sites across the country, supplying a range of retail, wholesale, foodservice and other customers with its iconic brands which feature in millions of homes every day. 

Through some of the nation's best-loved brands, including Ambrosia, Batchelors, Bisto, Loyd Grossman, Mr. Kipling, Oxo and Sharwood's, it is creating great tasting products that contribute to healthy and balanced diets.

Q3 Trading Update

In late January, the group reported strong Christmas trading for the thirteen weeks to 27^th December 2025, with its branded revenue having increased by 5.2% and with a total revenue up 4.1%, leading to an expectation that full-year trading profit will be at the upper end of market expectations.

For that Q3 period, the company saw significant growth in its Grocery Branded revenue by 5.8% and Sweet Treats Branded revenue by 3.1%, alongside a 29% increase in revenue from New Categories and a 10% rise in International revenue, with acquired brands like The Spice Tailor and FUEL10K achieving double-digit growth.

Range of FY25/26 Trading profit, collated by the Company from analyst forecasts is £193.0m - £198.2m, with a mean of £195.3m.

Management Comment

Along with the Q3 Trading Update, issued on Tuesday, 21^st January, CEO Alex Whitehouse stated that:

"We had a really good Christmas with 5.2% branded revenue growth, accelerating our trend from the previous quarter.

These results demonstrated strong delivery against all pillars of our strategy, with consumers continuing to choose our brands for their quality and value.

Both our Grocery and Sweet Treats businesses made strong progress in the period, and we returned to double-digit revenue growth overseas with particularly good performances in Australia and the US.

Our product innovation programme is particularly strong this year and consumers are embracing our new ranges including OXO Bone Broth, Paxo Stuffing Wreath, Angel Delight Bubble Jelly and Mr Kipling Cake Bites tubs. Premium ranges such as Ambrosia Deluxe, The Spice Tailor and Mr Kipling Signature Mince Pies again outperformed the market, as consumers traded up over the festive period.

Sales from New Categories delivered another strong quarter, up 29%, led by the growing success of FUEL10K yoghurt and granola.

We grew all of our acquired brands double digits, including our most recent acquisition Merchant Gourmet, as we further leverage both our commercial expertise to expand retailer distribution and marketing capabilities to drive product innovation and increase brand investment.

Our portfolio of brands offer consumers great options to cook and eat affordable, delicious meals at home, and together with our track record of performance through all economic cycles, firmly underpins confidence in our medium-term prospects.

Following this strong period of trading and strategic progress, we now expect to deliver Trading profit at the upper end of expectations for this year."

The Equity

There are some 868.8m shares in issue.

The largest holder is Nissin Foods (25.04%), while others include Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management (6.96%), M&G Investment Management (6.05%), JP Morgan Asset Management (UK) (5.11%), Brandes Investment Partners (4.86%), Dimensional Fund Advisors (3.43%), Paulson & Co (2.94%), BlackRock Investment Management (UK) (2.88%), The Vanguard Group (2.85%) and Fidelity Management & Research (2.43%).

Broker’s Views

Some seven analysts closely follow the group, six of whom call the shares a Buy, the other stating no opinion.

The Highest Target Price of the seven is for 280p, the Lowest for just 210p.

At Shore Capital Markets, analysts Darren Shirley and Clive Black are looking for the shares to trade in the 225p to 240p range.

For the year to end March, they estimate sales of £1,179m (£1,148m) with adjusted pre-tax profits of £176.4m (£169.3m) and earnings of 15.0p (14.3p), with a dividend of 3.4p (2.8p) per share.

For the current year, they look for £1,233m sales, £182.3m profits, earnings of 15.5p and a 4.0p per share dividend.

The 2028 year could show £1,271m revenues, £192.0m profits, 16.3p earnings per share and a 4.8p dividend.

Analyst Charles Hall, at Peel Hunt, has a Buy note out on the group’s shares, having recently upped his Target Price to 260p (230p).

Hall is looking for next week’s figures to report another good year of profit progression and cash generation, emphasising that the group has a good record of managing cost inflation and that the products are well-placed for a tougher consumer environment.

My View

I have followed this group for over three decades, even since its previous trading days as Hillsdown Holdings.

Over the years, several important acquisitions have helped it build up into the group that it is today, as a very important player in the UK food sector.

And it is still growing at a pace.

Its shares, now 200p, deserve a premium rating, certainly higher than the market average of 16 times earnings, which would put them out at least 240p after next week’s results.

(Profile 29.06.20 @ 67.5p set a Target Price of 101p*) 

(Profile 01.11.23 @ 117.5p set a Target Price of 152.75p*)