REG - Hilton Food Grp Plc - AGM Trading Update

Hilton FoodAnnouncement

20/05/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 9730O  Hilton Food Group PLC  20 May 2024

 

 

   20(th) May 2024

 

Hilton Food Group plc

 

AGM TRADING UPDATE

 

Trading in line with expectations; volumes and sales ahead of last year

 

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 1(st) January 2024 to date, ahead of its Annual General
Meeting to be held at noon today.

 

Trading

 

Trading has been in line with Board's expectations, with volumes and sales
ahead of the same period last year despite sales growth in some of the markets
we operate being impacted by lower raw material prices.

 

·    In UK & Ireland, both volume and revenue are ahead of last year,
benefiting from a strong Easter trading period as well as slowing inflation
and good growth in Ireland, whilst the momentum of the UK Seafood turnaround
continues.

·    In Europe, the core meat and easier meals business continues to
perform well, with volume and revenue ahead of last year.

·    In APAC, as expected there has been more normalised volume growth
from our three facilities in Australia and our food park in New Zealand,
following strong growth in 2023, with revenue seeing some impact from changes
in mix and deflation.

·    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.

 

Our Sustainable Protein Plan underpins the Hilton Foods strategy, with
ambitious targets across each of its core pillars of People, Planet and
Product. We have validated revised, more ambitious science-based targets
across Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions aligned to a 1.5  ̊C pathway and reaching
Net Zero by 2048.

 

This month we published our first standalone Sustainability Report (here
(https://www.hiltonfoods.com/media/ajjda2za/standalone-sustainability-report-23.pdf)
) which provides an in-depth look at our progress against targets, beyond
existing reporting in our Annual Report, and our partnerships.

 

Outlook

 

Hilton Foods' trading performance since the start of 2024 has been in line
with the Board's expectations. The business remains well-positioned for the
year ahead despite the continued challenging market environment and economic
conditions.

 

Our short and medium-term growth prospects are underpinned by the strength of
our multi-category offer and continued progress in our UK Seafood business. We
are well placed to deliver long-term value to all stakeholders through our
customer partnerships and with our strong financial position we continue to
explore further growth opportunities and wider geographic expansion.

 

 

The Group expects to publish its interim results for the 26 weeks ending
30(th) June 2024 on 4(th) September 2024.

 

 

 

For further information please contact:

 

 Hilton Food Group plc           Tel: +44 (0) 1480 387214
 Steve Murrells CBE,

Group Chief Executive Officer

 Matt Osborne,

Chief Financial Officer

 Headland Consultancy            Tel: +44 (0) 20 3805 4822
 Susanna Voyle                   Email: hiltonfood@headlandconsultancy.com
 Will Smith
 Joanna Clark

 

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