Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 1449W

Hilton Food Group PLC

05 November 2014

 



5th November 2014

Hilton Food Group plc

INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT

Hilton Food Group plc, the leading specialist international meat packing business, provides its Interim Management Statement for the period from 14^th July 2014 to date.

Trading for the period across the Group's operations has been in line with the Board's expectations.  In Western Europe, we have delivered overall volume growth with turnover continuing to be adversely affected by the impact of both lower raw material prices and foreign exchange translation.  In the UK, we expect to complete the site development work to increase capacity this year and the commisioning of all new equipment by the end of Q1/2015; in the meantime we have seen encouraging volume growth relative to last year. In Holland, our business continues to perform well, delivering further volume growth. We have also seen a recent pickup in the Irish business performance, following a challenging first half, whilst in Sweden progress has remained steady. Denmark's turnover has remained below last year's, primarily due to lower raw material prices. In Central Europe, trading has been in line with our expectations, with continued growth in Poland.

Hilton's joint venture in Australia is making good progress. As noted at the Half Year, the Bunbury conversion is complete and is performing well, with the Victoria plant on schedule to open in Q3/2015.

The Group's financial position remains strong with net debt growing in line with expectations as the investment projects in UK and Sweden are being executed. Hilton continues to explore opportunities to grow the business in both domestic and overseas markets.

The Group expects to issue a pre-close trading statement on 9th January 2015 and to announce its preliminary results for the 52 weeks ended 28^th December 2014 on 25^th March 2015.

For further information please contact:
Hilton Food Group plc	Tel: [phone]
Robert Watson, OBE, Chief Executive
Nigel Majewski, Finance Director
Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Angharad Couch	Tel: [phone]
Shabnam Bashir	Tel: [phone]

 

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