Hilton Food Group has said that its first-half performance was boosted by contributions from both its UK and Australia business, as the group posted a revenue increase of 6.5% at constant currency levels in the 28 weeks to 14 July.
Revenue for the period stood at £912.1 million (€1.02 billion), compared to £863.6 million (€964.4 milion) in the same period last year. Operating profit was up 14.6%.
Volume growth of 6.8% for the period was driven by 'contribution from both UK meat and Seachill, further progress from our operations in Australia and from the new Dalco and HFR Food Solutions businesses', the group said.
The group said that the period also saw 'significant' capital expenditure, with new facilities opening in Brisbane at the end of July, as well as an investment in the group's fresh convenience foods business in Poland.
Business Diversification
"Hilton has expanded its operational scale and diversified into new high growth proteins whilst delivering continued increases in volume and profit," commented the group's executive chairman, Robert Watson.
"Our new factory in Brisbane, Australia began production ahead of schedule and we also opened our fresh convenience foods facility in Poland. In the UK we are now packing 100% of Tesco retail packed red meat. Investments in vegetarian and sous vide manufacturers increases the new protein offerings we can supply to our retailer partners."
In terms of the remainder of the year, Watson added that the group's financial position "remains strong", and the business is "well positioned to capitalise on future growth prospects both in domestic and overseas markets as they arise. Our full year results are expected to be in line with the Board's expectations".
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
