Retail meat-packing company Hilton Food Group says that it has made good progress in the third quarter of the year, with performance in line with the board's expectations.
In the UK, the group says that turnover has continued to grow relative to last year, while its Irish business has continued to experience encouraging top-line growth.
Sweden and Denmark, however, have experienced a decline in turnover, while the Netherlands remains "a challenging market".
Expansion Plans
Hilton Food says that it has seen continued volume growth in Australia due to a joint venture covering Bunbury and Victoria, an extended contract with Woolworths Australia, and the planned construction of a new plant in Queensland.
Last month, the company announced that it was expanding operations to New Zealand by investing €33 million in a new meat-processing factory in Auckland to supply Progressive Enterprises, which operates the country’s Countdown Supermarkets. Additionally, it has confirmed its £80.8 million acquisition of Seachill, the UK business of seafood company Icelandic Group.
Hilton says that its financial position "remains strong", having put in place facilities to cover current expansion plans.
Darren Shirley, a consumer-equity researcher at Shore Capital, described this as a "robust trading update".
"Coupled with significant strategic progress through the acquisition of Seachill in the UK and an agreed new facility in New Zealand, this has been a busy, productive and very positive few months," Shirley said.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Sarah Harford. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
