Hilton Food hails strong trading; notes raw material price deflation

(Alliance News) - Hilton Food Group PLC on Thursday noted solid trading during the Christmas period as it highlighted that its core year-round product ranges support the ongoing business.

The Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire-based "multi-protein" food producer said core retail meat and food service across the UK & Ireland had "continued strong volume and revenue performance" in the final quarter of the financial year ended December 29.

Hilton Food expects to report financial 2024 adjusted pretax profit in line with the consensus, which is a range of GBP74 million to GBP77 million, with a mean of GBP76 million. This would be between 12% and 17% higher than GBP66.0 million it had reported for financial 2023.

The company said in Europe, core meat ranges and convenience meals delivered strong performance throughout the year.

However, the company added: "As expected, raw material price deflation in the Asia Pacific region continued in the final quarter, impacting revenue. However, volumes remained strong, bolstered by the performance of the BBQ range launched earlier in the year and by the core product offering."

Looking ahead, Hilton Food said: "The board is confident in Hilton Foods' outlook for 2025, underpinned by a strong financial position that allows continued investment in strategic opportunities. The group's highly automated facilities and strong customer relationships enable the business to effectively mitigate the impact of ongoing wage inflation, though as an international business, with two thirds of revenue generated outside of the UK, FX rates continue to be an area of focus."

Hilton Food shares fell 2.2% to 875.00 pence each on Thursday morning in London.

By Tom Budszus, Alliance News slot editor

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