McCormick & Co. executives reiterated their interest in buying British food company Premier Foods plc on Tuesday, as they reported the company's earnings increased more than 30 percent in the first quarter on previous acquisitions, an expanded presence in Eastern Europe and the rollout of products newly labeled organic.

Premier, which makes cooking sauces, seasonings and cake mixes, has rejected McCormick's $700 million cash offer. But McCormick said last week it might be willing to pay more, if Premier allowed McCormick to review its pension obligations.

McCormick officials believe Premier's products would complement the Sparks-based company's offerings and bring “iconic” brands to the portfolio. Though large, the acquisition would still leave McCormick room to pursue additional, smaller acquisitions, CEO Lawrence E. Kurzius said on Tuesday.

“These are fantastic brands that are much loved by UK consumers,” he said. “We feel pretty good about the fit.”

Kurzius said the company was limited to what it could discuss related to its effort to take over Premier.

McCormick executives said they didn't want to hurt the company's credit rating and said in a call with analysts they would be “disciplined about returns and value creation for McCormick shareholders.”

McCormick's stock surged in morning trading on Tuesday, after the spice and flavorings maker reported net income that increased to $93.4 million in the three months that ended Feb. 29, compared with $70.5 million in 2015.

The shares closed at $99.59 a share, up 2.3 percent for the day.

On a per-share basis, the company said it earned 73 cents in the quarter, compared with 55 cents in 2015, when its profits were hurt by special charges.

Overall the company's sales for the period increased about 2 percent. The gains were led by the company's consumer division, where sales increased to $633.8 this year from $620.3 million in 2015, up about 2.2 percent.

In the industrial division, the company's sales increased about 1.6 percent, to $396.4 million from $390.1 million.

“It was a good quarter,” said Joseph Agnese, senior equity analyst at S&P Global Market Intelligence. “Given our concerns over a potential slowdown in sales, having much stronger sales was a positive for us.”

McCormick is expecting its sales revenue to grow 1 percent to 3 percent this year, taking currency fluctuations into account.

The company is in the middle of cost-cutting that it expects to generate $95 million in savings in 2016 and $400 million over four years.

nsherman@baltsun.com