Cranswick Share Discussion Threads

[m.t.glass] 30/12/2006 14:20

"..Cranswick is a smaller company best known for pork foods. It used to be a byword for disappointment, thanks to its exposure to the notoriously volatile price of pig meat, but by moving away from basic butchered products and into fancier goods such as continental charcuterie, it appears to be developing a comforting resilience while showing promising growth prospects..."

Robert Cole ('Tempus') in The Times today, naming Cranswick as one of his 'Ten For The Year 2007' (Not that he did too well with his Ten For 2006, gaining less than the market index)

[m.t.glass] 21/11/2006 16:58

Putting pork back in fashion
Cranswick leads the revival as sales soar

Ros Snowdon
Deputy City Editor
CRANSWICK, the company credited with turning the humble banger into the gourmet sausage, is now working its magic on one of Britain's most neglected meats – fresh pork.
Forget overcooked pork chops, the meat is undergoing a renaissance at Cranswick which is seeing bumper sales of its ready to roast pork joints.
"People want a traditional family Sunday roast, but they don't want to spend hours in the kitchen preparing it and then ages washing up the pots and pans," said Bernard Hoggarth, Cranswick's chief executive for the food division.
"We have a range of ready to roast joints from a stuffed loin of pork to traditional crackling joints and they all come in a baking tray, so no washing up."
The overall fresh pork market is showing meagre growth of 1-2 per cent a year, but at Cranswick it is up 29 per cent.
Mr Hoggarth said the Driffield-based company was seeing an increasing interest in quality food as people are prepared to pay more money for upmarket produce.
"The main thing is the meat is matured on the bone for four days and we have introduced certain special breeds of pig, notably the black and white Hampshire," he said.
The group, which is credited with bringing the gourmet sausage to the masses, said sausage sales showed no signs of slowing down. They rose 27 per cent in the six months to September 30.
"People continue to trade up and we have launched the Black farmer brand in supermarkets. Our sausages have a very high meat content and people are buying them because they can use them for breakfast, lunch, dinner, casseroles, etc. This is where the growth is rather than the more exotic ranges such as Toulouse and Provencal," said Mr Hoggarth.
The group makes all of Sainsbury's Taste The Difference range of sausages in addition to the Duchy range which saw growth of 19 per cent over the six-month period.
Mr Hoggarth was speaking yesterday as Cranswick announced a 13 per cent increase in half year pre-tax profits to £15.5m.
The shares, which have risen 35 per cent over the past year, lost some of their value on profit-taking and they closed the day down 2.8 per cent at 839.5p. The results were in line with expectations.
The group reported a 14 per cent rise in sales to £248m.
In addition to good sales of fresh pork and sausages, the group reported strong growth in bacon. Its Jack Scaife traditional dry cured bacon reported growth of 70 per cent and its Taste the Difference range of bacon for Sainsbury's has seen sales increases of 118 per cent, partly thanks to a new TV ad campaign starring celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.
Cranswick raised its interim dividend by 9 per cent to 5.9p a share.
Earlier this month the group bought cooked meats company Delico for £18m, which boasts one of the most modern plants in the UK.
The pre-packed cooked meats market is worth over £1.3bn in the UK and is showing growth of around 8 per cent a year, according to TNS Superpanel.
Delico, which is based in Milton Keynes, is only using around a quarter of its full factory capacity which will give Cranswick a lot of scope to enlarge the business.
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21 November 2006



mtg

A 'BUY' in The Times, a 'HOLD' in The Telegraph

Got no current holdings myself.

[hectorp] 21/11/2006 10:13

odd - I've never come across cranswick till today, 'buy' says a newspaper. Just shows you can miss excellent stocks.
I like posh sausages too. No I am not buying ths share but I'll stoick it on a monitor from now on.

O/T
- If you have profits from this you might look incidentally today at SDX.. very quiet share, oilfield services co. Buy not to 330p.

[scotch broth] 20/11/2006 09:14

Disappointing results;low growth ;positively presented.This is starting to look like a granny share.I sold out this morning.

[mitzis] 20/11/2006 08:06

Interims out today.

[m.t.glass] 17/11/2006 10:24

From The Independent this morning:

...Investors will be expecting good first-half results from Cranswick on Monday. The food maker known for its premium sausages is thought to have had a strong summer thanks to the good weather in September and October, after reporting a record first quarter in July. The shares have been one of the steadiest performers over the last two years, and closed 4.5p firmer at 844.5p.

[stronger] 08/11/2006 13:40

Something is definitely in the air , still believe a major new contract is in the pipeline (post 166). This would also fit strategically with their recent acquisition of Delico.

[m.t.glass] 03/11/2006 11:27

From Sharecast summary:

Shares in the food group Cranswick roared to an all time high yesterday following its purchase of Delico, a producer of pre-packed cooked meats, for £17.9m and strategically, the deal makes great sense says the Independent. Cranswick trades at a slight premium to its peer group. For a company that has an unbroken profit-growth record going back to the early 1990s, this is fully justified. Hold.

And from the Yorkshire Post:

...Delico, which is based in Milton Keynes, is only using around a quarter of its full factory capacity which will give Cranswick a lot of scope to enlarge the business.
Last year Delico made £12.4m in sales and a pre-tax loss of £700,000. In the first eight months of this year it made sales of £12.4m and a pre-tax profit of £400,000...

[bahtat] 03/11/2006 09:05

Good coverage on BBC Business news this morning with Declan Curry at Cranswick in Hull.

I didn't realise they even make Charles posh 'Highgrove' brand sossers there.

Silly me! I had this mental picture of Charles supervising the Organic sausage stuffing in some lovely Grade 2 converted barns!

[cambium] 02/11/2006 20:26

breakout MT, still going from strength to strength.

[m.t.glass] 02/11/2006 18:55

Market seems happy with latest acquisition..


LONDON (AFX) - Cranswick, the UK agribusiness company, said that it has bought the entire share capital of pre-packed cooked meats producer Delico for 17.9 mln stg. The purchase consists of 14.3 mln stg cash and 479,000 Cranswick shares.

Delico's pretax loss for the year ended 31 December 2005 was 0.7 mln stg, on sales of 12.4 mln stg. The firm is based in Milton Keynes and has a plant that Cranswick said is 'amongst the most modern facilities in the UK for the production of pre-packed cooked meats.'

Cranswick said that Delico will be integrated into its Cranswick Convenience Foods unit and that its managing director Jeff Winter will remain.


Delico website is

[m.t.glass] 19/10/2006 16:42

I believe they already supply Tesco - though I don't know how many products.
If they win any new orders i hope they make money from it. Tesco pretty mean at screwing down suppliers.

[stronger] 19/10/2006 16:12

I have heard a possible deal with Tesco is on the cards, any comment?

[m.t.glass] 30/9/2006 11:14

Bangers and butties do well at Cranswick

Ros Snowdon
Deputy City Editor
Yorkshire Post
30 September 2006

GOURMET sausage company Cranswick said it continued to perform well in the six months to September 30, with total sales up 12 per cent on last year.
Food sales showed an increase of 13 per cent, with fresh pork and sausages showing particularly strong growth.
Driffield-based Cranswick is credited with creating the posh sausage category, which has raised the humble banger from a cheap meat option to a gourmet treat.
Cranswick has enjoyed strong growth with its Prince of Wales' Duchy Original sausages as well as Sainsbury's premium sausage range. The group said yesterday that it looked to the future with optimism and said its pet products business continues to improve. It will announce its interim results on November 20.
In addition to sausages and pork, the group has seen a strong increase in sandwich sales over recent months, driven by bumper sales of its deluxe sarnies.
Among its best sellers are The Sandwich Factory's celebrity chef labels which feature Brian Turner and Antony Worrall Thompson.
The celebrity chef ranges are going down well at airports, train stations and roadside service stations and they won the British Sandwich Awards' En-route Retailer of the Year award.

[m.t.glass] 07/9/2006 21:31

"...One business he favours in the UK is food manufacturer Cranswick, which is benefiting from increasing demand for premium high welfare and organic pork products...."

- Extract from article describing Jupiter Ecology unit trust fund and the stock selection criteria employed by its manager Charlie Thomas

[m.t.glass] 30/8/2006 12:12

Cranswick wins organic pork contract with superstore

Kathryn Moore, Yorkshire Post, 30 August 2006

CRANSWICK, the company behind gourmet sausage lines including the Prince of Wales' Duchy Original range, has won a contract to supply supermarket chain Sainsbury's with organic pork.
The company – which already produces Sainsbury's 'Taste The Difference' bacon and sausages – will team up with organic farmers across the country to produce a range of organic pork products.
Driffield-based Cranswick, which makes 250 tonnes of sausages every week, has positioned itself at the top end of a range that includes fresh pork, cooked meats, sausages, bacon, charcuterie and sandwiches.
Sainsbury's SO organic fresh pork will be on sale for Organic Fortnight which runs from September 2 to 17.
Sainsbury's account manager at Cranswick, Annabel Summers, said: "We are very excited about working with Sainsbury's to drive forward the organic sector of the pork market.
"The result of being appointed by Sainsbury's means that we are now able to form a three-way partnership between the supermarket, ourselves and organic farmers.
"We are now able to give organic farmers longer term contracts, thereby benefiting all involved and providing customers with a regular, reliable source of quality organic pork."
More and more shoppers are now choosing to buy organic.
The Soil Association, the leading certification body, recently predicted the £1.2bn sector would be worth £2bn by the end of the decade.
Matt Johnson, organic meat buyer for Sainsbury's, said: "We are delighted to extend our working relationship with Cranswick.
"The company is focused on innovation, quality and service and the products are extremely good."

[m.t.glass] 31/7/2006 12:38

Cranswick says current yr starts well, Q1 sales up 12 pct to 120 mln stg

31 July 2006

LONDON (AFX) - Cranswick PLC said the current year has started well with sales in the first quarter up 12 pct to 120 mln stg.

In a statement given at today's AGM, chairman Martin Davey will tell shareholders food sales showed an increase of 12 pct to 113 mln stg, with fresh pork, sausages and bacon showing particularly strong growth. He also said the performance of the pet products business showed an improvement over the first quarter last year.

'We have been successful in gaining new business in the food activities and are confident of achieving further gains. We look to the future with optimism,' Davey adds.

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[cambium] 31/3/2006 07:42

British food producer Cranswick PLC expects full-year results
to be in line with its expectations and said it will book a 2 mln stg gain
following the sale of a property.
In a statement ahead of results on May 23, Cranswick, which makes a range of
cooked meats and sandwiches as well as animal feed, said it expects sales rose
by around 11 pct in the three months to the end of March, its fourth quarter.
Sales of food products rose by 12 pct, with fresh pork, cooked meats,
sandwiches and bacon showing particularly strong growth.

[spaceparallax] 03/3/2006 12:57

Chart progress is slow and undulating, but we do seem on average to be moving up. After the very recent news of an animal (cat?) having caught bird flu, it will be interesting to see how things develop - do we produce veggie sausages?