London, Oct 8 - British convenience food maker Uniq warned on Wednesday it expects to make a loss in the second half, blaming a further significant deterioration in economic conditions since its last update in July.
The company, which supplies convenience food and ready meals to supermarkets in Europe and counts Marks and Spencer as its largest customer, said customers had been trading down in response to the conditions, resulting in its sales mix featuring a higher proportion of lower-value and discounted products.
Uniq said that had resulted in a disappointing margin performance.
The company said it had seen a particular deterioration in trading conditions in the UK and France.
UK sales grew by 1.7 percent in the third quarter. However, growth in sales of sandwiches slowed significantly from 13.1 percent in the first half to 2.1 percent in the third quarter.
Uniq said, while sales in desserts have stabilised, that was at a cost to margin.
Across the UK business as a whole, Uniq said the positive impact of price increases achieved in the third quarter had been offset by the changed sales mix and product discounting.
It still expects to deliver a trading profit in the UK in the second half, but at a much lower level than last year, and said that will still be dependent on its Christmas performance.
In March, Uniq scrapped its dividend and warned economic conditions would get significantly harsher this year.
Its shares have fallen by nearly 60 percent since the start of the year and closed at 76 pence yesterday, valuing the business at 88 million pounds ($153.5 million). ($1=.5733 Pound)