CHILLED and frozen food supplier Brake Bros enjoyed healthier Christmas trading but still felt the impact of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

While sales in most areas were said to be satisfactory in November and December, airline catering and hotel sectors remained weak. Shares in the group slipped 12.5p to 530p.

Brake Bros, based at Eureka Business Park, Ashford, warned last year that profits for 2001 would be below expectations if poor trading conditions continued.

But Christmas trading in line with expectations outlined late last year enabled finance director Len Hughes to be bullish. He said: “We are pleased with Christmas trading which was slightly ahead. We are confident we will not disappoint the market.”

Sales for the year as a whole, including acquisitions, were up 22% on 2000 at almost £1.38 billion. Like-for-like sales growth was 3%.

Brake Bros’ chief executive Ian Player said that despite the tough trading conditions he was confident of “satisfactory progress in 2002”.

He added: “Although it is too early to predict the performance of the catering market in 2002, we will benefit from the organic investment and the integration of acquisitions made in recent years.”

The group’s French business contributed £250 million to overall sales. Brake Bros made pre-tax profits of £36.6 million last year, on turnover of £1.13 billion.