Hilton Food Group has lowered its full-year profit guidance and pointed to a “difficult” outlook for profit progression in 2026.
In a London Stock Exchange filing today (11 November), the UK-based meat and seafood private-label supplier projected an adjusted pre-tax profit of £72m ($94.6m) to £75m for the financial year ending 28 December.
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When the company announced its results for the 26 weeks to 29 June, Hilton Food said the metric would deliver a profit of £76.8m to £81m based on estimates as of 2 September.
Today, Hilton Food flagged challenges in its UK seafood business and its Foppen salmon operations in the Netherlands.
“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 company said in the filing.
It added that UK seafood “continues to be impacted by softer white-fish demand”, which it said “is driven by ongoing high raw material inflation and cautious consumer spending”.
Hilton Food said the Foppen business in Europe has faced “operational disruption” linked to regulatory restrictions on shipping to the US. As a result, production at a facility in Greece has stopped, delayed by the US government shutdown, and is not expected to restart operations in 2025.
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By GlobalDataThe company has faced challenges in seafood in the past.
In 2023, the private-label focused protein business said it was taking steps to tackle the “challenges” in UK seafood.
“We are working in partnership with our customers to recover inflation, reduce costs and optimise the ranges we produce, as well as leveraging the benefits which will come through our investment in industry-leading automation and other initiatives,” the company said at the time.
A year later, Hilton Food announced redundancies at its Grimsby seafood operations in the UK as it introduced new filleting equipment.
In other category areas, Hilton Food said today that volumes in red meat and convenience remain “solid”, with convenience especially performing “well”.
However, “price inflation” is weighing on underlying demand, it said.
Hilton expects net debt at year-end to be “marginally higher” than at the end of the prior year.
The company secured £71m in net cash from disposals during the quarter and is investing in new Canadian facilities. The cash receipts include the sale of UK foodservice supplier Fairfax Meadow to Sysco in a £54m deal.
The group also expects a “partial inventory unwind” over the Christmas period.
“Although underlying demand is subdued, the normal seasonal uplift in Q4 is expected to support overall performance in the near term,” the company said.
Hilton Food added today that a business review of operations and its portfolio has “reached an advanced stage”. Its conclusions will be presented with the full year trading update in January.
The group said the development of new Canadian operations and a joint venture in Saudi Arabia remain “on schedule”.
In June, the company confirmed plans for its first North American processing and distribution site in Brantford, Ontario. The plant will supply beef, pork, lamb and seafood to distribution centres in Mississauga, Cornwall and Moncton.
Earlier this year, the group formed a joint venture with The National Agricultural Development Company (NADEC) in Saudi Arabia.
Hilton Food planned to develop facilities in Saudi Arabia, while NADEC will supply the venture and add red meat products to its distribution network.
