Hilton Foods Regulatory News (HFG)

14 Jan 2010 07:00



HILTON FOOD GROUP PLC

TRADING STATEMENT FOR THE 53 WEEKS ENDED 3rd  JANUARY 2010

Hilton Food Group plc, Europe's leading specialist retail meat packing business, is today providing an update on trading for the 53 weeks ended 3rd January  2010. 

We are pleased to report that despite the challenging economic conditions, trading for the period has been strong and in line with the Board's expectations. The Company has delivered further turnover growth, reflecting volume increases as well as the benefit of stronger currencies in our overseas markets. 

Growth in Central Europe has been robust, supplemented by new exports to Latvia and Lithuania during the year. In addition, we are pleased to report that the Irish breakfast meats project, which came on stream in August 2008, has contributed positively for the year as a whole. As we reported in our November Interim Management Statement, the spreadables meat project in Holland has also made good progress since we began production in July 2009 and volumes continue to build.

On November 27th 2009, we announced that we had reached agreement with the Coop Danmark to invest in and establish a new business operation in Denmark. This will deliver benefits to ourselves, to Coop Danmark, and also to the Danish consumer and plans and resources are in place to ensure that we successfully execute the project.

The Group's balance sheet remains strong, there having been no significant changes to this position since the half year end, with net debt at a modest level leaving us well positioned for future expansion.

The trading environment in 2010 is likely to remain challenging, but we believe Hilton is well placed to deliver continued growth.  We continue to explore further opportunities to develop our business in both domestic and overseas markets.

The Group intends to publish its full year results on Wednesday 31st March 2010. 

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