Consumer spending across Europe might be subdued and the food retail segment extremely competitive, but Hilton Food Group (HFG) has managed a meaty set of results. The Huntingdon-based meat packing company saw volumes rise 4.5 per cent to 133,706 tonnes, thanks in particular to decent growth in the UK, Ireland and Holland. This, alongside a 30 basis point rise in operating margins to 2.7 per cent, helped push operating profits up a quarter to £17.3m.
Chief executive Robert Watson said he was impressed with how its plant in Melbourne, Australia was running after just one year in operation. The group operates there through a joint venture with Woolworths, and Mr Watson said the company had already received its first dividend from the joint venture. He also said Hilton Food Solutions - its recently launched meat trading business - had started well but was unlikely to become a core part of the group. Mr Watson added that the interim agreement with Portuguese retailer Sonae would turn into a longer-term agreement as "that's what both parties are working towards".
For now, analysts at Numis expect pre-tax profit of £31m for the year to December 2016, leading to EPS of 30.7p, up from £28m and 27.2p in 2015.
| HILTON FOOD GROUP (HFG) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 591p | MARKET VALUE: | £433m | |
| TOUCH: | 578-594 | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 610p | LOW: 445p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.6% | PE RATIO: | 19 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 104p | NET CASH: | £21.6m | |
| Half-year to 17 Jul | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 579 | 13.1 | 13.2 | 4.10 |
| 2016 | 632 | 16.7 | 16.9 | 4.60 |
| % change | +9 | +27 | +28 | +12 |
Ex-div: 3 Nov Payment: 2 Dec | ||||
