5th Nov 2014 10:57
LONDON (Alliance News) - Meat packing business Hilton Food Group PLC Wednesday said trading so far in the second half has been in line with expectations.
The company said it expects to complete site development work to increase capacity later this year, and will have commissioned all new equipment by the end of the first quarter of 2015.
"In the meantime we have seen encouraging volume growth relative to last year," the company said in a statement.
Hilton Food said its business in Holland is delivering further volume growth, whilst trading has improved in Ireland, following a particularly challenging first-half.
"In Central Europe, trading has been in line with our expectations, with continued growth in Poland," the company said in a statement.
"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," it added.
The company said trading in Sweden remains "steady", whilst revenue in Denmark remains below last year, primarily due to lower raw material prices.
Hilton Food said its joint venture in Australia is making food progress, with the plant in Victoria, South-east Australia, scheduled to be open in the third quarter of 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 company said.
Hilton Food said it plans to release a pre-close trading statement on January 9, and announce its full-year results for the financial year ended December 28 on March 25.
The company's stock was trading 0.8% higher mid-morning Wednesday at 379.25 pence.
By Rowena Harris-Doughty; [email protected]; @rharrisdoughty
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