Berisford sees strong growth

By THIS IS MONEY
Updated: 18:00 EST, 27 March 2000

Berisford, the expanding food equipment and kitchens group, issued a trading statement on 28 March showing strong growth across the company and said it was looking for further acquisitions this year.

Last year the company bought Scotsman Industries, a US ice machines and refrigerators group, in a £230m deal which prompted analysts to suggest it would jettison its Magnet kitchens subsidiary.

Berisford has constantly denied any plans to offload Magnet and a spokesman said today: 'The future strategy is to focus on food but that is not to say that Magnet is up for sale. 'We keep finding ways to improve its performance.'

Magnet was increasing its market share and beat last year's figures during the key post-Christmas sales period.

Commenting on speculation the company is about to go back on the acquisition trail, the spokesman said: 'Now that Scotsman has been bedded in we are looking for other targets, particularly in Europe. The next major acquisitions will be in Europe in the cooking and warming area.'

Scotsman's profits were ahead of this time last year, with the integration processing rapidly.

However, its refrigerated display case division showed a marked slowdown in sales, especially in Australia.

Elsewhere, the CP Hart upmarket bathrooms business continued growing.

Berisford is expecting to launch a listing on the New York Stock Exchange in July.