NEW products including giant crumpets and thin bagels have helped Bolton bakers Warburtons maintain its financial performance despite "difficult" trading conditions, its boss has said.

The family run firm announced its financial results for 2014-15 was in line with expectations, recording a turnover of £552m in comparison to £548m over the previous 12 months.

The recent figures, which run for the year to September 26, 2015, also reveal the company increased its operating profit from £24.1m to £35.4m, while But pre-tax profit fell from £78.3 million to £38.7 million because of a a £50m dividend from a subsidiary in 2014.

As well as producing its well known lines of bread, Warburtons has diversified with items such as the giant crumpet, twice the size of a regular crumpet, and thin bagels which offer a lower calorie option.

Warburtons has also invested in high profile advertising campaigns over the past few years, most recently with The Muppets.

Kermit the Frog, The Swedish Chef, Fozzie Bear, Statler and Waldorf and Sweetums all swapped LA Boulevard for Bolton.

The firm also joined forces with Hollywood A-lister Sylvester Stallone, with the star of the Rocky films taking to Victoria Square to film an advert.

Jonathan Warburton, chairman of Warburtons, said: "Our performance has remained stable, despite the continuation of difficult trading conditions and volume decline in the wider bakery market.

"The performance reflects our continued focus on breakthrough innovation, quality and service in a very competitive marketplace.

"As the number one bakery brand in Britain, we are committed to growing our share of the bakery market by developing new products alongside our current leading lines.

"Our continued investment in our people and infrastructure ensures we are focused on meeting the needs of changing consumer trends.

"This focus, along with our family ownership structure, means we are uniquely positioned to invest for the long term — making decisions today that we believe will contribute positively in the future.

"Our success is testament to our continuous innovation, the hard work of all our employees, and our commitment to always produce the best quality products on the market."