Hibernia Foods, the Nasdaq-quoted frozen foods group, has announced a 27 per cent increase in revenue to £22.4 million (€28.4 million) in the quarter ended June 30th, 2000. However, the operating loss has increased from £1.17 million (€1.49 million) to £1.27 million (€1.61 million). Sales showed double-digit percentage growth in Hibernia's three divisions: frozen desserts, frozen ready-meals and Entenmann's, the company said. The increase in the operating loss was attributed partly to increased overheads arising from the new ready-meals facility and partly to the investment in senior management and sales personnel. After a rise in extraordinary charges from £3.68 million to £3.74 million, the net loss amounted to £6.25 million. The extraordinary charge was, the company said, a non-recurring charge mainly due to the write-off of previously capitalised deferred issuance costs in relation to pre-paid loan notes.

The chairman and chief executive officer, Mr Oliver Murphy, said he was pleased by the latest results. "We have shown substantial revenue and gross margin growth in what is typically our lowest revenue quarter of the year due to the seasonality of our business," he said. The group, he added, was encouraged by its aggressive growth with the major UK retailers, a development which was not fully reflected in the quarterly results. Mr Murphy said the group's strategic goals this year are to increase core revenues to £150 million, improve margins and return the company to profitability.

On acquisitions, he noted that there has been a lot of activity in the market. Hibernia has identified a number of opportunities in the UK and Europe, which are being investigated, he said.