Food group Greencore has reported revenues of £331.9m for the 13 weeks to 26 December 2014, an increase of 4.4% on the previous year on a like-for-like basis.
In an interim management statement, the company said that its convenience foods division recorded revenue of £320.4m, up 5.4% on a like-for-like basis.
The growth came despite the fact that the UK grocery market remained challenging during the company's fiscal first quarter with negative same store volumes and price deflation.
Greencore said its key chilled markets performed well with continued good growth in the food to go market and a "positive" performance in the chilled ready meals market.
The company said that revenues in its US operations rose by 19.4% on a like for like basis. It said the construction of the new facility in Rhode Island is nearing completion, with commissioning due to start as planned in its fiscal second quarter.
Revenues in its ingredients and property division - which now represents just 5% of total group activity - fell by 16.8% on a constant currency basis.
Looking ahead, Greencore said that it remains well placed with strong positions in growing product categories.
"Notwithstanding the challenges of the UK grocery retail market, the business has had a good start to the year with encouraging growth against a strong comparator period last year," it said.
"We remain confident in our ability to deliver performance in line with market expectations," the company concluded.
