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Premier Foods Plc (LSE:PFD) was up 32.5% in the early afternoon on Friday, ending the week with its sixth consecutive positive day.
Favourable news about the company has been released consistently since the start of November, boosting investor confidence.
Directorate Change
On 1 November, Premier Foods announced a shift in the structure of their leadership team in order to, “strengthen focus on the company’s renewed growth plan.”
Under the new structure, leadership responsibilities will be split between the recently separated grocery and bakery businesses. Each business sector will have a managing director, who will report directly to the CEO Michael Clarke.
As a condition of this new structure, the role of Chief Operating Officer was removed, causing executive Tim Kelly to leave the business.
The move brings on Iwan Williams, formerly President of McCormicks Europe and Strategic Marketing Director of Coca Cola Asia Pacific, to run the bakery business and Graham Hunter, formerly of 2 Sisters Food Group, to lead the grocery business.
Commenting on the restructuring, CEO Michael Clarke said:
“I am delighted to welcome Iwan and Graham to Premier Foods. We are pleased to have attracted two outstanding individuals to these new key roles and I look forward to working with them both as we start to rebuild the company.”
Covenant Test Deferral
In another news release on 7 November, Premier Foods announced that they have reached an agreement with their banking syndicate to defer their upcoming covenant test by three months until 31 March 2012. This move confirms continued bank support for the company and aids them in their plan for longer term refinancing of company debt.
CEO Michael Clarke commented on the progress:
“This is an important step towards securing a longer term financial foundation for the business. I am very pleased that after sharing our vision and high-level plans, our banking syndicate has confirmed its support.”
“In recent weeks, we have set out our priorities and made significant leadership changes to strengthen our focus. We are now moving quickly to finalise our detailed growth plans to ensure we continue to build momentum in the business.”
Bob Spooner, group operations director for Premier Foods, bought 300,000 new shares in the company on Friday, showing confidence in its growth. Other investors seem to share this sentiment, as shares are up 79% over the past six days.
Premier Foods Joins With Wipro Technologies
It was announced Friday that Wipro Technologies, a global information technology, consulting, and outsourcing company, will partner with Premier Foods over the next five years. Their primary role will be supporting systems and processes to increase supply chain efficiency.
References
↑ Premier Foods Directorate Change
↑ Covenant Test Deferred
↑ Wipro Technologies Wins Engagement With Premier Foods
