Hilton Food Group (HFG) has announced a joint venture with Woolworths, Australia's largest retailer, in which it will manage a new meat processing facility that Woolworths plans to build from scratch.
Production will begin in 2015 and, given the possible scale of the new plant in Victoria, analysts reckon Hilton's 50 per cent share of the profit could be as much as £3.8m, or 15 per cent of last year's pre-tax profit.
The announcement comes just seven months after Hilton entered into the joint venture, which already operates Woolworth's Bunbury processing plant near Perth, supplying 84 stores. This new facility could supply more than double that number. Analysts at broker Numis Securities believe the entire joint venture could add £2.3m to Hilton's pre-tax profit in 2015.
