Boparan - comment

Boparan continues to surprise us on the upside. Strong performance in the Poultry business more than made up for continued weakness in Meals and Bakery. We had worried that the price friction in the UK grocery sector would have seen pressure on Poultry prices, but so far that has not happened, and The Poultry business is continuing to improve volumes and price points. The relationships with the Supermarkets clearly remain positive. The Meals & Bakery business is having more difficulty passing on inflationary costs and was only marginally profitable in Q2; having M&S as such a dominant customer will make these negotiations tough. The call is today at 1230 UK time; we will update further after the call.