Baker & Baker hails strong performance in 2023 despite pressures

Bakery products firm Baker & Baker, which employs 165 people at its site in West Sussex, reported a strong performance in 2023, which it put down partly to structural changes in the business.

The encouraging performance also underscored the group's sustained growth since it formed as a sole bakery products business two years previously, it said.

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Revenue growth came in at 12% to €620 million, gross profit growth of 18.2% to €83.9 million and adjusted EBITDA (excluding non-underlying items of €11.4 million) was €26.5 million – an increase of 24.7% on the prior year.

The company also said the year saw it invest €5 million in productivity enhancements and a shift in product mix to address changing consumer preferences amid the cost-of-living crisis.

Cost controls were also a key driver of improvement in adjusted EBITDA performance in comparison to prior year, it added.

Among its capital projects, the £2.9 million investment in the expansion of the bakery’s cookie capabilities at its Wirral site was the most significant, the firm said, while the year also saw Baker & Baker continue to expand into new markets, including in the Middle East, where it established in the latter stages of 2022.

The volume growth of 0.2% across the group during the financial year represented a better than expected performance in light of the cost-of-living crisis and raw material inflation, the firm noted.

CEO John Lindsay said: "Baker & Baker is a clear category leader in American Sweet Bakery, and our expertise and market know-how offers a key point-of-difference with customers, allowing us to drive sales throughout the retail and food service channels.

"2023 was also characterised by the cost-of-living crisis and inflation across all major food categories, and so to have maintained volume performance in the face of these market challenges represents a significant success.

"Our financial performance in 2023 provided an excellent platform for further growth across the Group, and as we seek to expand into new markets in 2024."

Baker & Baker employs around 1,400 people in the UK across four sites, including Ashington.