Food group Greencore has reported pre-tax profits of £35.47m sterling for the year to the end of September, up from the £26.2m reported the same time last year.
Group revenues for the year rose by 8.7% to £804.2m and the company said that despite the challenging UK and US food markets, it is confident of being able to drive further growth next year.
The company said its group operating profits of £51.5m were in line with the previous year and it is proposing a final dividend of 2.4 cent per share.
The company said it successfully completed the £113m deal to buy Uniq in September. It said the deal - and the acquisition of On a Roll Sales - had substantially strengthened its position in chilled convenience foods in the US and UK.
The company also said it had changed its reporting currency from euro to sterling to align the group's external financial reporting with the group's profile.
Greencore's chief executive Patrick Coveney said that 2011 has seen the company complete its transformation into a ''focused and growing convenience food business''. He added that its underlying business continues to trade well.
The company said that revenues at its convenience division rose by 8% to £732.2m from £678.1m while operating profits increased by 5.3% to £49.4m from £46.8m. Greencore described the performance as good despite ''some of the most challenging market conditions in many years''.
It said the UK retail market has experienced a difficult year with volume declines for the first time in many years. Real disposable incomes have declined, while significant input cost inflation along with tax rises and rising unemployment have held back consumption, it added.
Revenues at Greencore's ingredients and property division rose by 16.6% to £72m from £61.8, while operating profits slumped 53.8% to £2.2m from £4.8m due to lower property trading profits.
Greencore CEO Patrick Coveney said the acquisitions the company made during the year in both the UK and US should be taken as a clear indication of its long-term strategy of supplementing organic growth with strategic corporate activity.
''We are delighted with the way that the businesses are being quickly and efficiently integrated into the group,'' he added.
''We have reshaped our portfolio, we have strong market conditions, we are delivering good performance and are thus well positioned for further progress in 2012 and beyond,' the company's results statement said.
Yesterday the company's shares fell after it said talks with a prospective buyer had ended without agreement. It blamed current market turmoil and difficulty securing debt finance on capital markets.
Greencore shares closed 1.2% higher at 65 cent in Dublin this evening.
