Revenue in the group’s Food to Go categories - which includes sandwiches, salads, sushi and chilled snacking - totalled £1.24bn while revenue across the company’s other convenience categories decreased by 14.9% to £562.5m.

The company’s pre-tax profit for 2024 financial year stood at £61.5m - an increase of 36.1% from the £45.2m recorded during the previous year.

Greencore said with the exception of labour costs, inflation in its main cost components has slowed and the majority incurred was recovered or mitigated in the period through a range of mechanisms, including pass-through of cost increases, cost reductions, product and range reformulations, and alternative sourcing.

Labour costs will increase for the company next year with the introduction of further national living wage increases and national insurance changes in the UK from April. The company estimates this will add €7.5m in additional costs.

Chief executive of Greencore Dalton Philips said the company “continues to make progress” against all of its strategic objectives and it is well positioned to “continue this momentum” into the next financial year.

“The strength of our balance sheet will provide us with the ability to invest in the growth and efficiency of our business and to pursue merger and acquisition opportunities on a selective basis, while also enabling us to deliver increasing returns to shareholders,” he said.

“Looking ahead, we expect adjusted operating profit for financial year 2025 to be within the top half of the range of current market expectations,” he said.

The company has also announced the launch of another £10m share buyback.