Farmfoods | Verdict Company Briefing

Summary
Scottish frozen food retailer Farmfoods started life as a meat processor, and after a successful pilot, began expanding into retail. It had 31 freezer centres by 1988. It expanded into England, acquiring Wallis Frozen Foods and Capital Freezer Centres in the 1990s. It has a simple format, easily duplicated, making it easy to manage, and expand, and currently has around 325 stores.

Synopsis
While far lower than the 21.0% sales growth the retailer saw in its 2013 financial year, Verdict anticipates encouraging trading with minimal space growth in 2014. Operating margin dropped in 2013, following consecutive increases previously as the retailer invested on infrastructure and expansion

Improving sales growth by encouraging shoppers to spend more instore will help to improve market share. Introducing wider ranges, especially in ambient, will encourage shoppers to spend more in a single visit, thus improving market share growth.

Reasons?To?Buy
- Benchmark your performance in food and grocery with detailed key performance indicators across sales and space data for Farmfoods

- As a wholesaler or supplier, identify the potential of Farmfoods as a new retail partner by understanding its strategy

- As a landlord or property agent, understand Farmfoods' expansion plans, potential for growth through expansions and sales density predictions



Your key questions answered

- How will Farmfoods' food and grocery sales grow in 2013, and what impact will this have on market share

- What are Farmfoods' plans for expansion over the coming years, and how will this contribute to sales growth

- What is the best strategy for Farmfoods to adopt in securing market share growth in the future as it faces further competition from Iceland

1 Outlook
1.1 Overview
1.2 Focus Must be on Expansion
1.2.1 Growth must be driven by new stores
1.2.2 Significant opportunity remains
1.2.3 Competition for retail space will continue to increase
1.3 Store Environments Must be improved
1.3.1 Simplicity is key
1.3.2 Must not let standards slip in the face of competition
2 Company Overview
2.1 Overview
2.2 Company Information
2.3 Proposition
3 Recent Key Events
3.1 Overview
3.2 Company News
3.2.1 Profits fall on increased costs
3.2.2 New distribution centre announced
3.2.3 Deputy chairman and property director step down
3.2.4 Expansion plans halted as potential for acquisition fades
3.3 Store Expansion
4 Financial Performance
4.1 Overview
4.2 Current Trading
4.3 Five Year Key Statistics
5 Operating Performance
5.1 Overview
5.2 Sector Summary
5.2.1 Sales
6 Methodology
6.1 Methodology: Outlook
6.1.1 Financial information
6.2 Methodology: Company Overview
6.2.1 Verdict company briefing
7 Appendix
7.1 About Verdict Retail
7.2 Disclaimer