FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
· Group operating profit up 8.1% to £76.5m;
· Group operating margin of 6.4%, a 30 bps increase;
· Strong growth in adjusted EPS, up 13.3% to 14.5p;
· Proposed final dividend of 2.9 pence per share, giving a total dividend of 4.8 pence per share, up 12.9%; and
· Strong cash flow generation reducing net debt by £25.2m. Net debt: EBITDA leverage (reported basis) down from 2.75 times to 2.3 times.
OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
· Integration of Uniq completed with restructuring of the desserts business and disposal of Minsterley facility. Integration of International Cuisine completed; and
· US integrations completed and successful roll out of food to go range to Starbucks USA from four of our six facilities.