Hilton Food Group Reports Lower First-Half Profit

Hilton Food Group, a London-listed food company, has announced a decrease in its pretax profit for the first half of the year due to increased costs. However, the company has decided to raise its dividend payout as it is performing as expected.

During the 28 weeks ending July 16, Hilton Food Group recorded a pretax profit of £11.3 million ($14.1 million), a decline from the £19.6 million reported in the previous year. The company's revenue saw a 5.2% increase to £2.1 billion, primarily driven by inflation in raw-material prices. Although volumes were up by 0.2% to 272,321 metric tons, the cost of sales also rose from £1.83 billion to £1.90 billion.

Despite the decrease in profit, Hilton Food Group's board has declared an interim dividend of 9.0 pence per share, compared to 7.1 pence per share in the previous year.

Looking ahead, the company remains confident in its ability to meet the board's expectations for the remainder of the year. It believes that its recent acquisitions, along with the recovery in the seafood sector and opportunities for cross-category business development and supply-chain management expertise, will contribute to its growth prospects.

At 0716 GMT, Hilton Food Group's shares were down by 1.0% or 7.0 pence, trading at 673.0 pence.