Protein producer Hilton Food Group has announced its third quarter trading update for the period from 30th June to 19th October 2025.
The Hilton Foods Solutions business supplies to many different food sectors covering foodservice, wholesale, manufacturing, e-commerce and retail across multiple protein, and the company offers a variety of fresh and frozen proteins in various packaging formats.
Its Hilton Foods UK business supplies beef, lamb, BBQ, ready-to-cook, slow cooked, vegan and vegetarian meals to customers across the UK.
The Group said it had maintained a “resilient trading performance” amid a “highly inflationary pricing environment”. Hilton’s volumes across red meat and convenience “remained solid”, with convenience in particular continuing to perform well. However, Hilton said that ongoing inflation pressures continued to weigh on underlying demand.
Net debt at the end of the year is expected to be only marginally higher than at the end of FY24, as Hilton said it had received net cash receipts of £71 million from the completion of the Foods Connected and Fairfax Meadow transactions during the quarter, and as previously outlined, Hilton Foods has “continued the strategic investment” to develop its new Canadian facilities. It also said it expects a partial inventory unwind as it sells through its Christmas ranges.
Q4 seasonal sales to support performance
The Hilton Foods board expects the seasonal uplift in Q4 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 £72 million to £75 million.
Given the “emerging impact” on demand from ongoing inflationary pressures and the “continued disruption” at its Foppen business in Europe, the board said it had become “more cautious” on the trading outlook for 2026, and as such expects profit progression in the next financial year to be difficult.
