Hilton Food lifts full-year outlook but charges dent first-half profit

Hilton Food Group PLC on Thursday raised full-year guidance despite reporting lower half-year profit as issues at its Foppen business offset progress elsewhere.

In response, shares in the Huntingdon, England-based food packaging company soared 16% to 734.00 pence each in London, by far the best-performing stock on the FTSE 250, which was up 0.1%.

Hilton Food reported statutory pretax profit from continuing operations of £11.8 million in the 26 weeks ended June 28, down 57% from £27.1 million the year prior.

This includes adjusting and exceptional items of £21.0 million, predominantly relating to costs in Foppen of ongoing regulatory restrictions on exports from Greece to the US, and reorganisation, restructuring and transformation costs.

Hilton Good bought Dutch smoked salmon producer Foppen in December 2021 for EUR90 million.

Adjusted operating profit from continuing operations fell 3.4%, or 6.6% at constant currency, to £45.8 million from £47.4 million, but beat Visible Alpha consensus of £38.9 million, cited by Panmure Liberum.

Hilton Food reported higher adjusted profit overall from its core meat and fresh prepared food businesses, offset by a lower seafood profit mainly due to margin pressures in Foppen.

Revenue from continuing operations increased 15%, or 12% at constant currency, to £2.29 billion from £1.99 billion.

Continuing operations exclude Fairfax Meadow, which was sold in September 2025, and Dalco, the sale of which was agreed in July.

Volumes from continuing operations rose 2.1%, with good overall performance from core meat businesses and further growth in fresh prepared food in Central Europe.

Basic earnings per share declined to 7.7p from 22.1p, or by 9.2% to 25.7p from 28.3p on an adjusted basis.

The interim dividend was held at 10.1p per share.

Looking ahead, a new facility in Canada is set for launch next January, and a joint venture facility in Saudi Arabia is expected to be operational in the fourth quarter of this year.

Both projects are expected to contribute to earnings from 2027.

For 2026, Hilton Food expects adjusted pretax profit from continuing operations of £66 million to £71 million, up from £60 million to £65 million.

This is despite "ongoing challenges" in Foppen, and reflects the removal of Dalco losses and favourable year-on-year foreign currency movements.

Capital expenditure is still expected to be around £100 million in 2026.

"We remain positive on the medium-term outlook for the group. Our projects in Canada and Saudi Arabia are expected to contribute to earnings from 2027 and, further out, the planned expansion of capacity in Poland will allow us to drive continued momentum within our fresh prepared food business," the firm said.

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