31st Mar 2016 08:08
LONDON (Alliance News) - Hilton Food Group PLC on Thursday reported growth in profit in its recently-ended financial year although revenue slipped slightly due to negative foreign exchange rates, as it announced the resignation of Non-Executive Chairman David Naish.
The retail meat-packing business said its pretax profit in the year ended January 3 grew by 11% to GBP28.0 million from GBP25.2 million the year before, although revenue slipped slightly to GBP1.09 billion from GBP1.10 billion.
Hilton said it achieved volume growth of 5.5%, boosted by the UK, Ireland and Holland, with particularly strong Christmas trading partly offset by continuing pressure on consumer spending in Denmark.
However, strong sterling decreased revenue by 7.4%, offsetting the volume gains and leading overall revenue to slip slightly by 0.4%.
Hilton added that Non-Executive Chairman David Naish will step down from the company following its forthcoming annual general meeting on May 25, to be replaced by Non-Executive Director Colin Smith.
Hilton will pay a dividend of 14.6 pence for the year, which is a 9.8% increase on the 13.3p paid the year before.
"In the early months of 2016 Hilton's operating performance has been in line with the board's expectations. The group will continue to explore further opportunities for geographical expansion in both domestic and overseas markets and is well placed to capture those opportunities as they arise," Chief Executive Robert Watson said in a statement.
Shares in Hilton were trading up 4.0% at 516.00 pence on Thursday morning.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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