Greencore Group's operating profit for the year to the end of September rose by 11.2% to £102m as the company said it was confident about its future prospects.
The international convenience food business said its group revenue rose by 10.6% to £1.482 billion while it has proposed a dividend per share of 6.65 pence, up 8.1% on the the previous year.
Greencore also today announced the proposed acquisition of Peacock Foods in the US in a deal worth $747.5m, sending its shares sharply higher in London trade today.
Calling the deal "transformational", Greencore said it will accelerate its vision to become a "fast-growing, international foods leader and establish a scaled and profitable platform for future growth in the US".
Peacock Foods is a US convenience food manufacturer which focuses on frozen breakfast sandwiches, kids' chilled meal kits and salad kits.
It generated revenues of about $1 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $72.1m in the year to September 2016.
Commenting on the deal, Greencore's chief executive Patrick Coveney said it will transform the company's US business, strengthen its position in high growth categories, broaden its channel and customer exposure, and add significant scale to its operations.
The acquisition is expected to more than quadruple its total sales in the US to contribute around 42% of group revenue, up from around 15% now.
Greencore said it would buy the US business on a debt free and cash free basis, backed by a fully underwritten rights issue offered to qualifying shareholders.
It said it expected to see significantly enhanced earnings and a targeted return ahead of cost of capital from the first full year of ownership.
Mr Coveney said does not expect the deal to be affected by any changes to global trade that may come from the election of Donald Trump as president, with its food manufactured locally for local brands, he said.
"Whatever may happen and frankly I'm not sure people know yet in terms of the implications for global trade once Donald Trump becomes president, it'll have very little impact on underlying food demand for US consumers," he stated.
In today's results statement, Greencore said that revenue in its Convenience Foods division rose by 11.2% to £1.435 billion while operating profits increased by 11.6% to £100m.
It noted that growth in both the UK and US was driven by the performance of its "food to go" range with the UK business outperforming the market on the back of new customer wins, and the US performance driven by growth with its two biggest customers.
The company is now the biggest sandwich maker in the UK.
But revenues in its Ingredients and Property division fell by 6.8% to £46.7m while operating profits declined by 4.8% to £2m. The falls came on the back of challenging global dairy markets and lower commodity prices in edible oils.
CEO Patrick Coveney said the company had seen another year of strong performance.
"These results should be seen as a clear indication that our strategy of focusing on the UK and US Convenience Foods markets is continuing to work well," Mr Coveney added.
"Given the underlying commercial momentum across the group, our strong market positions, the transformational acquisition of Peacock Foods in the US and our recent new business wins, we are confident about Greencore's future prospects," he added.
Shares in Greencore, which are listed on London's FTSE 250 index, closed over 12.5% higher this afternoon.
