Last checked at 
(Alliance News) - Hilton Food Group PLC lifted its dividend on Thursday, amid a double digit rise in profit and revenue passing the GBP1 billion mark for the first half of its financial year.
Shares in the food processing and packaging firm were 2.0% higher at 1,222.00 pence on Thursday in London.
For the six months ended July 12, pretax profit rose by 21% to GBP24.0 million from GBP19.9 million the same period the year before. This was on revenue that grew by 39% to GBP1.26 billion from GBP912.1 million.
Revenue growth was driven by a rise in Hilton's volumes by 23% to 237,340 tonnes from 193,608 tonnes, which the group attributed to its new Australian facility and increased home consumption as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Hilton's European business reported revenue growth of 15% to GBP1.04 billion, due to the rise in home consumption, higher volumes and an increase in raw material prices.
Meanwhile, the group's Australasian division reported a sharp rise in revenue to GBP228.1 million from GBP7.6 million, also on higher volumes and prices.
Hilton raised its interim dividend by 17% to 7.0 pence per share from 6.0p the year before.
Looking ahead, Hilton said it is continuing to invest in new facilities in Belgium and New Zealand, as well as developing its fish and vegetarian categories further.
Although uncertainties over Covid-19 remain, Hilton Food expects its annual results to be in line with management expectations.
"I am extremely proud of the commitment and resilience shown by the entire Hilton team to step up and adapt quickly to the challenges caused by Covid-19 in order to safeguard our people, keep our facilities open and support our customers. This response underpinned a strong performance with volume and profit growth demonstrating the robustness and sustainability of our business," said Executive Chair Robert Watson.
By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
