“退欧”与三明治的经济账

所属教程:金融时报原文阅读

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2020年08月28日

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“退欧”与三明治的经济账

距离英国“退欧”公投仅剩不足5周的时间，全民辩论愈演愈烈，这次发声的是食品行业的大佬：英国最大的三明治制造商，要知道英国可是号称“日不落三明治王国”。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

generate 发生；生殖['dʒenəreɪt]

contingency 偶然性；[审计] 意外开支[kən'tɪndʒ(ə)nsɪ]

negotiate 谈判，商议；转让[nɪ'gəʊʃɪeɪt]

better off 经济状况好的，富裕的；明智的

be committed to 致力于；以…为己任

dividend 红利；股息；[数] 被除数['dɪvɪdend]

grocery 食品杂货店['grəʊs(ə)rɪ]

Uniq 曾是英国玛莎百货最大的三明治供应商

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：那么，您的阅读速度相当于每分钟阅读的英文单词数

3分15秒母语为英语者的朗读速度 140

1分56秒母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度 250

1分6秒母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度 350

0分44秒母语为英语的速读高手 1000

Irish sandwich maker Greencore plays down Brexit （441words）

By Vincent Boland in Dublin

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Greencore, the Ireland-based group that supplies half of all the sandwiches sold on British high streets, played down the implications of a possible Brexit but warned of difficulties triggered by the supermarket price war.

Patrick Coveney, chief executive, said the group’s production costs would almost certainly rise if the UK left the EU — but expected companies would have time to adjust.

Greencore generates almost all of its revenue in the UK market.

Mr Coveney said it had a contingency plan in place in the event of Brexit but added: “I think the need for that is somewhat overstated — there will be time to adjust” as the substantive issues of a UK exit were negotiated.

“My personal view is that the food industry is better off in the EU than outside it, and a decision to leave would drive up the cost of production,” he said.

He said Greencore was committed to the UK market regardless of the decision on June 23.

Greencore reported a rise in its revenue, operating profit and interim dividend for the first half of its financial year despite a “difficult” UK grocery environment where prices were driven down by fierce competition.

First-half revenue rose 7.5 per cent to £692m and the company predicted that the trend would continue in the second half.

“We have very good growth momentum,” Mr Coveney said. “We think we have the balance right between our near term performance and our strategy of growing the business.”

Shares in Greencore were 1 per cent lower at 382.8p in mid-morning trading on Tuesday.

The group has expanded rapidly in the UK convenience food market in recent years since its acquisition of Uniq in 2011. It now produces one in every two sandwich rather than one in four. Mr Coveney said Greencore’s food-to-go business grew by 13 per cent in the six months to March 25, compared with 5.6 per cent for the market as a whole.

Greencore is hoping to replicate its UK market position in the US, where it has begun a big investment programme in the convenience foods sector to supply its two main customers — coffee chain Starbucks and convenience store operator 7-Eleven.

The US unit produced a “modest loss” in the first half mainly due to high start-up costs at a facility in Rhode Island, but Mr Coveney said the expectation was that it would be profitable in the second half.

He said the aim was to turn the US operations into a $1bn-a-year business within five to 10 years, through a combination of organic growth and acquisitions, making it roughly equivalent to the size of the UK business today.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1. Where is Greencore’s headquarters?

A. British

B. America

C. Ireland

D. France

2. What would happen to Greencore if the UK left the EU as Coveney said?

A. production costs rise

B. mass layoff

C. selling prices rise

D. quit the supermarket price war

3. Where is the next strategic market in Greencore’s plan?