REG - Hilton Food Grp Plc - AGM Trading Update

Hilton FoodAnnouncement

23/05/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 2165A  Hilton Food Group PLC  23 May 2023

 

 

 

23(rd) May 2023

 

 

Hilton Food Group plc

 

AGM TRADING UPDATE

 

 

Hilton Food Group plc ("Hilton Foods" or the "Group"), the leading
international multi-protein food business, today provides a trading update for
the period from 2(nd) January 2023 to date, ahead of its Annual General
Meeting to be held at noon today.

 

Trading

 

Trading has been in line with Board's expectations.  Sales are ahead of the
prior year, reflecting continued increases in raw materials prices and the
positive effect of a full year of ownership of Foppen following its
acquisition in March 2022.

 

·    Revenue in UK & Ireland is ahead of last year.  As expected
higher raw material prices continue to have an impact on volumes.  The
ongoing turnaround plan in our UK Seafood business remains on track to deliver
against our performance improvement and cost saving targets.

 

·    In Europe, revenue is ahead of the previous year, as a result of the
benefits from the acquisition of Foppen and particularly strong trading in our
Scandinavian markets.  The development of our Swedish food park continues,
and we remain on target to commence production of convenience products in Q4
of this year.

 

·    In APAC we have seen strong volume and revenue growth from our three
facilities in Australia and our food park in New Zealand.

 

·    Our technology businesses, Agito and Foods Connected, continue to
make good progress agreeing new contracts with international customers in the
period.

 

Our Sustainable Protein Plan is a core part of the Group's strategy with
ambitious targets across each of its core pillars of People, Planet and
Product.  We are on track to meet our existing Science Based Targets across
Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions and by August will have submitted our increased
ambition targets aligned to a 1.5(◦)C pathway.

 

Outlook

 

Hilton Foods' trading performance since the start of 2023 has been in line
with the Board's expectations and, despite the uncertain macro-economic
environment, the business is well positioned for the year ahead.  The Group's
financial position continues to be strong with leverage and headroom at
comfortable levels.

 

Our short and medium term growth prospects are underpinned by our recent
acquisitions and the continued recovery of our UK Seafood business, combined
with opportunities to develop our cross-category business and utilise our
wider supply chain management expertise.  We also continue to explore growth
opportunities and wider geographic expansion with existing and new customers.
 

 

The Group intends to publish its results for the 28 weeks ended 16th July
2023 on 7th September 2023.

 

For further information please contact:

 

 Hilton Food Group plc                   Tel: +44 (0) 1480 387214
 Philip Heffer, Chief Executive Officer

 Matt Osborne, Chief Financial Officer

 Headland Consultancy                    Tel: +44 (0) 20 3805 4822
 Edward Young
 Will Smith
 Joanna Clark

 

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