Greencore Plc, the Dublin-headquartered supplier of convenience foods to the UK market issued a trading update for its financial year which ended on 27 September which should make made pleasing reading for shareholders.

The company’s forecast of adjusted operating profit is being revised higher to £95m-£97m (€113m-€115.5m), an increase of 8% from projection Greencore gave in July.

Like-for-like revenue growth for the year was up 3.4%, with the company expecting full-year revenue to be around £1.8bn (€2.14bn).

Net debt fell slightly, with Greencore saying it expects it to be at the lower end of target range of 1 to 1.5 times earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation.

Greencore is extending its current share buyback programme by a further £10m (€11.9m) and said that it remains the intention of the board to declare a dividend for 2024 when the full-year results are published on 3 December.

Dalton Philips, Chief Executive Officer, said: “The Greencore team delivered an outstanding performance with our FY24 results now expected to exceed current market expectations.”

Shares in the company rose 5% in early trading in London following the publication of the trading update, and are up 100% since the start of 2024.