Hilton Food shares up as eyes annual results in line with expectations

(Alliance News) - Hilton Food Group PLC on Thursday hailed a "pleasing" festive period performance.

Shares were up 5.3% at 577.19 pence each on Thursday morning in London.

The Cambridgeshire, England-based food packaging business said for the year ended on January 1, there has been continued revenue growth compared to the same period in 2021 and a "pleasing performance in the lead-up to the festive period". For financial 2021, Hilton had reported a revenue of GBP3.3 billion, up 22% from GBP3.3 billion the year before.

In the Asia-Pacific region, Hilton Food said it saw strong topline growth from three facilities in Australia. In the UK and Ireland, it said it continued to "make progress, with a strong Christmas trading period, whilst also focusing on a number of cost saving initiatives".

Looking ahead, the company said it remains confident in the outlook for 2023, despite the wider macro-economic challenges. It expects results in line with the board expectations.

The group's financial position "continues to be strong with leverage and headroom at comfortable levels," it added.

Full year results will be published on April 5.

In September, Hilton Food said in the 29 weeks to July 17, pretax profit declined by 9.7% year-on-year to GBP19.6 million from GBP21.7 million a year earlier. Revenue, however, was 19% higher at GBP2.04 billion from GBP1.71 billion a year before, driven by volume growth and raw material price inflation.

By Xindi Wei, Alliance News reporter

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