Premier Foods has reported a jump in third-quarter sales after it was buoyed by strong Mr Kipling sales.

The group said sales increased 2.6% for the 13 weeks on the back of 3.6% growth in UK sales.

It said this was particularly buoyed by Mr Kipling, which saw sales jump 10% after it sold 201 million mince pies over the festive period.

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Alex Whitehouse, chief executive officer at Premier Foods, said: "Our UK business has now delivered ten consecutive quarters of revenue growth and has consistently outperformed the market.

"Our biggest brand, Mr Kipling, has again been instrumental to this continuing momentum, with increased sales of 10% supported by TV advertising and new product ranges.

"We are making good progress towards our cost-savings goals and are on track to deliver £5 million savings over the next two years to further increase investment into the branded growth model."

The Gym Group is hoping to cash in on the traditional new year fitness boom, as it revealed that membership numbers jumped 9.7% in the past year.

The low-cost chain, which has 175 gyms across the country, said that, by December 31, membership had risen to 794,000, from 724,000 the year before, with revenues up 23.6% to £153.1 million.

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This included average revenue per member per month - a key measure for the business - up 7.6% to £16.02 in December.

Executives put this down to increased sign-up to the company's Live It membership programme which includes multi-site access and a bring-a-friend initiative.

Chief executive Richard Darwin said: "We expanded our business by 20 sites in 2019, which included the first two of our new small box gym concept, which delivers low-cost fitness to smaller towns.

"There remains a long runway of potential sites in the UK and, with our small box rollout under way, we plan to accelerate the expansion of our gym estate in the coming year.

"We have built scale and a strong platform over the past few years and, with an encouraging start to January trading, we anticipate 2020 will be another year of significant progress."

Ladbrokes owner GVC Holdings has hailed an "excellent" trading performance over 2019 despite a year of regulatory upheaval.

The betting giant said earnings before tax and interest for the year to December 31 were at the top end of its expectations of between £670 million and £680 million.

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Despite posting lower sales from its high street bookmakers, the firm said trends in its UK retail arm are currently performing ahead of its forecasts.

It said group net gaming revenue increased by 2% for the year despite retail decline.

UK retail like-for-like revenues dived 12% over the year and 11% over the final three months of 2019, due to the impact of new restrictions on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs).

In April, the Government reduced the maximum stake on the terminals from £100 to £2 in a bid to help address problem gambling.

Gambling firms including GVC announced significant high street closures as a result, with Ladbrokes ploughing ahead with plans to close 900 shops by April 2021.

The company said it saw a 31% decline in revenues from its machines in the final quarter as a result of the legislation, while over-the-counter revenues increased by 17%.

GVC chief executive Kenneth Alexander said: "The group's operational and financial performance in 2019 has been excellent, with the strong momentum reported at quarter three continuing throughout quarter four."