By Laura McGuire
Food packaging company Hilton Food Group has said volumes and sales are trading ahead of the same period last year as the business continues to trade in line with board expectations.
The London-listed firm, which supplies major supermarkets such as Tesco Morrisons and Waitrose, said the strong performance came despite some of the markets it operates in being impacted by lower raw material prices.
In Europe, its core meat and easier meals business also performed well, with volume and revenue ahead of last year.
The processing giant’s Seafood arm had fallen on hard times in recent months, mainly due to global supply chain issues and soaring inflation.
However, a full year trading update posted last month by the firm showed its turnaround plan of this division had been delivered ahead of plan and returned to full year operating profit.
In April, Hilton Food Group said revenue was up 3.7 per cent on last year’s figure to £95m, while adjusted profit before tax in reported currency was up 19 per cent to £66m.
At the time, chief of the firm, Steve Murrells, said: “Over the past year we’ve remained focused on executing our strategy which has resulted in a good performance against a challenging market.
Last September, the firm inked a deal with Walmart Canada to supply meat for its retail stores.
Hilton Foods said:: “We continue to build our long-term partnership with Walmart in Canada and remain on track for the 2027 launch of our multi-protein facility, starting with beef, lamb, pork, seafood, some added-value products and robotised store order picking services.”
Analysts at Panmure Gordon rated the firm a ‘Buy’ on Monday morning.
They said: “Six weeks after posting strong FY results that confirmed delivery of a recovered UK Seafood division and refocused the story on growth, Hilton Foods has confirmed volume growth in all markets, as the impacts of food price changes in the last few years settle down.”
