Grocery supplier Princes Group signals price hikes as Mideast war adds cost pressures (updated)
31/03/2026 07:57
Corrects paragraph 4 to say core profit rose 127% from 150% and clarifies duration of comparative period March 31 (Reuters) - Grocery supplier Princes Group PRN.L said on Tuesday it would raise prices where needed to offset renewed cost pressures from rising fuel, transport, and packaging costs from the Middle East conflict. The Liverpool-based owner of the Napolina pasta and tinned tuna brand, Princes, said it would implement pass-through pricing mechanisms as necessary to manage rising costs, having secured about 70% of its energy requirement for 2026 to protect against near-term volatility, while actively managing logistics pressures through contractual mechanisms and route optimisation. UK food manufacturers, which benefited from commodity deflation in 2025, are now facing a reversal in pricing dynamics as they brace for a return of cost inflation across energy and distribution networks that could test their ability to protect margins without eroding volumes. Princes Group's adjusted core profit surged 127% to 148 million pounds in the 12 months to December 2025 versus the nine‑month period ended December 2024, after the company completed a reorganization of its business and reporting year which resulted in a shorter comparative period. It also confirmed its medium-term guidance of a 3 billion pound plus revenue and margin expansion of more than 300 basis points from 2024 levels. ($1 = 0.7579 pounds) (Reporting by Raechel Thankam Job and Yamini Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich) ((RaechelThankam.Job@thomsonreuters.com;))