Failed float costs food maker £24m

Ready-MeaLS maker Bakkavor has taken a £24m hit from the botched stock exchange listing led by its Icelandic founders.

Profits at the firm, which supplies ready meals to Tesco, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose, slid 38pc to £39m as costs relating to its debut ate into its finances.

The firm’s owners agust and Lydur Gudmundsson went ahead with the listing in November just a week after it had originally cancelled plans to float.

agust Gudmundsson, chief executive, said: ‘This has been a historic year for Bakkavor. We have transformed the group, fully refinancing our lending facilities and listing on the London Stock exchange, positioning us well for future growth.’

Sales grew by 4.6pc to £1.8bn in 2017 as it benefited from higher prices agreed with supermarkets. Bakkavor said new products such as Christmas chocolate domes and charcoal-dough pizzas had been popular with supermarket shoppers.

a move away from frozen and long-life food among US consumers saw it cater for an increasing appetite for fresh produce. It also invested £20m in expanding its biggest factory in China.