Hilton Foods Regulatory News (HFG)

15 May 2008 07:00

Hilton Food Group plc

INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT

Hilton Food Group plc, Europe's leading specialist retail packing business, provides its first Interim Management Statement for the 16 weeks ended 20 April 2008, as required under the UK Listing Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

Trading for the period has been encouraging across the group's operations, in line with Management's expectations. Although raw material input prices are rising, red meat is relatively well placed compared with other food products and we continue to work with our customers to deliver products that offer quality and value.

As outlined in the Preliminary Results for the year to 31 December 2007, work is underway in constructing an extension to the plant in Drogheda, Ireland, in order to supply bacon and sausage products to Tesco Ireland. The project is proceeding on schedule, and we expect the extension to come onstream in early Autumn of this year. Additionally, the trial to supply Tesco stores in Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia from our plant in Tychy, Poland is progressing.

The Group's financial position remains strong, there having been no significant changes to this position since the publication of the Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2007.

The trading outlook of the Company for the remainder of the financial year continues to be in line with the Board's expectations and we are confident that we are well placed going forward. In addition, we expect to continue exploring further opportunities to grow our business in both domestic and overseas markets.

The group expects to issue a Pre-Close Trading Statement on 17 July 2008 and its Interim Results for the 28 weeks ended 13 July 2008 on 11 September 2008. 

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