Hilton Food Group plc (LON:HFG), the leading international multi-protein food business, has announced a third quarter trading update for the period from 30th June 2025 to 19th October 2025.
Trading
The Group has maintained a resilient trading performance amid a highly inflationary pricing environment.
· Volumes across red meat and convenience remain solid, with convenience in particular continuing to perform well, although ongoing price inflation pressures continue to weigh on underlying demand.
· While we expect the salmon category to benefit from increased demand over the festive period, the wider UK seafood division continues to be impacted by softer white-fish demand. This is driven by ongoing high raw material inflation and cautious consumer spending.
· The Foppen smoked salmon business in Europe continues to experience operational disruption due to regulatory restrictions on shipments to the US. As previously explained, this has resulted in additional costs. We have implemented actions to address the issues, but the ongoing US government shutdown has resulted in delay to the approvals for the Greek facility to recommence production. As a result, we do not expect that production in Greece will resume in 2025.
Balance Sheet
Net debt at the year-end is expected to be only marginally higher than at the end of FY24. We have received net cash receipts of £71m from the completion of the Foods Connected and Fairfax Meadow transactions during the quarter, and as previously outlined, we have continued the strategic investment to develop our new Canadian facilities. We also expect a partial inventory unwind as we sell through our Christmas ranges.
Outlook
Although underlying demand is subdued, the normal seasonal uplift in Q4 is expected to support overall performance in the near term. As a result, the Board now expects adjusted pre-tax profit for the financial year ending 28th December 2025 to be in the range of £72m to £75m. Given the emerging impact on demand from ongoing inflationary pressures and the continued disruption at Foppen, the Board has become more cautious on the trading outlook for 2026 and as such expects profit progression in the next financial year to be difficult.
The development of the Group’s new operations in Canada and the joint venture in Saudi Arabia remain on schedule. The Group continues to leverage its long-term customer relationships, strength in product innovation, and operational efficiency to deliver affordable, high-quality products and to build a strong platform for sustainable long-term growth.
Business Review
The ongoing business review assessing our operations and portfolio alongside continued focus on strengthening long-term shareholder returns has reached an advanced stage and has identified clear opportunities to optimise Hilton Food Group’s operations going forward. The Group expects to provide an update on the conclusions of the review alongside the Full Year Trading Update on 29th January 2026.
