The owner of Mr Kipling, Bisto and Sharwood’s branded foods reported a profit rise of almost 13% for 2025

The owner of some of the UK’s most cherished and iconic food brands heaped praise on standout performer Mr Kipling on Thursday, as Premier Foods served up financial results that comfortably surpassed City profit forecasts.

Mr Kipling — the brand synonymous with its “exceedingly good cakes” strapline, which has been in continuous use since 1967 when the range first launched — achieved its “biggest year ever” in 2025.

The stellar performance was driven by a fresh addition to the teatime treat category: cake tubs, as reported by City AM.

Alex Whitehouse, chief executive of the £1.8bn company, attributed the success to capitalising on a “bitesize trend” in packaging specifically engineered to facilitate sharing.

“When people want to treat themselves, they want it to be worthwhile, so indulgent, but they might only want a small amount. This is one of the reasons we believe this range has done so well, as they are catering to the trend to treat yourself, with a small, bitesize treat.”

Previous product innovations have included Mr Kipling-branded birthday cake tarts, lunchbox slices, and breakfast bakes.

“Boosted by these innovations, this has been Mr Kipling’s biggest ever year”, Whitehouse added.

The FTSE 250 company posted a pre-tax profit of £181.9m, representing a rise of nearly 13 per cent, comfortably beating market expectations. Headline revenue climbed 2.5 per cent to £1.175bn for the year to 28 March. Full-year headline branded revenue climbed 3.4 per cent overall, accelerating to 4.7 per cent in the second half of the year as newly launched products gained momentum — among them the Fuel10k yoghurt and granola brand.

Clive Black, at Shore Capital, said “Premier has beaten out 2026 trading profit expectations due to balanced progress across the firm, innovation, UK [market] share gains …. And good M&A”.

The St Albans-headquartered firm employs 4,000 staff across 13 UK sites, and also produces Bisto, alongside the Homepride, Lloyd Grossman and Sharwood’s cooking sauce ranges. In September, it acquired the Merchant Gourmet ready meals brand.

Its two bakeries, located in Stoke and Barnsley, churn out 220m packs of cakes and pies annually. Other Premier sites include the Ambrosia creamery in Devon, the Moreton bakery in Wirral which makes Mini Rolls, its savoury products factory in Worksop which makes OXO and Bisto, a central warehousing hub in Tamworth, and a finance base in Manchester.

Premier’s shares responded positively, rising nearly 3 per cent to 203p — the stock’s strongest position since May last year.

Black further noted: “We see this highly successful proprietary branded British food manufacturer as being fundamentally undervalued”. He suggested 250p “would be a fairer base” for the stock.