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Investing.com -- Shares in Hilton Food Group (LON:HFG) traded higher on Tuesday after the food packaging business posted stronger-than-expected revenue growth, driven by a solid performance in the UK and Ireland meat and seafood segments.
Hilton beat top-line expectations by nearly 100 basis points, thanks to a 9% rise in volumes in its UK and Ireland operations.
Growth in this core market helped offset headwinds in Asia-Pacific, where raw material price deflation continued to weigh on results, though the impact eased in the second half.
In Europe, the Cambridgeshire-based food processor booked a £9.8 million non-cash impairment charge related to goodwill from its Dalco acquisition. Despite this, operating profit margins in the region remained steady year-on-year.
Group-wide, adjusted operating profit margin increased by 12% on a constant currency basis. In the UK, margins improved by 80 basis points, supported by record Christmas volumes across meat and seafood.
In Asia-Pacific, margins edged up by 10 basis points, despite a 10% price deflation and reduced interest cost recovery.
Hilton sees a strong start to the new financial year and reaffirms its full-year guidance.
Company consensus predicts FY25 adjusted pre-tax profit between £76.8 million and £83.3 million.
Visible Alpha anticipates 3% revenue growth and a 6% rise in reported EPS for the year.
As part of its international growth strategy, the chilled food supplier has announced plans to enter Saudi Arabia using a capital-light model.
It also confirmed that its partnership with Walmart (NYSE:WMT) in Canada is progressing as planned, with operations set to launch in early 2027.
“The wisdom of the last few years of capital allocation has been debatable; however, we are reassured by the company's increased focus on organic expansion,” said analysts at RBC Capital Markets in a note.