Hilton Food Group Profits Boosted By Seafood and Core Meat Categories

Hilton Food Group (LON: HFG) posted its preliminary results for the 52 weeks ended 31 December 2023 on Wednesday, reporting a robust financial and strong operational performance during the year.

The company's adjusted profit before tax jumped 19% to £66 million, boosted by its seafood and core meat categories. Statutory pre-tax profit came in at £48.6 million, up 64.2%, while adjusted operating profit rose 33.5% to $95 million.

Operating profit margin in 2023 increased to 2.4% from 1.8% in 2022, while volumes increased by 0.7%. Revenues were up 3.7% to £3.99 billion.

According to the company, the seafood recovery has been “delivered ahead of plan,” returning to full-year operating profitability and supporting the uplift in group profit before tax.

While the meat business also performed strongly, HFG said that market challenges in its vegetarian and vegan business. As a result, they have taken steps to consolidate this business into a single operating facility.

“Over the past year we've remained focused on executing our strategy which has resulted in a good performance against a challenging market,” said Steve Murrells, Hilton Foods Chief Executive Officer. “As I set out at our investor day in November, Hilton Foods has the right attributes in place to unlock growth organically and with new customers thanks to our multi-category product offer, industry-leading technology and rigorous sustainability credentials.”

Looking ahead, HFG said 2024 trading has started in line with expectations, although markets remain challenging.

Even so, they are confident the business is well placed, within a large and attractive international market, to continue to deliver its strategy to create long term value for shareholders.

“Growth prospects are underpinned by the strength of our core meat business, the continued recovery in seafood and in the medium term our recent acquisitions and the developing relationship with Walmart in Canada,” the company said in its statement.

Hilton Foods has proposed a final dividend of 23p.