Hilton Food Group H1 2026 Earnings Report

Hilton Food Group EPS Results

• Actual EPS: GBX 25.70
• Consensus EPS: N/A
• Beat/Miss: N/A
• One Year Ago EPS: N/A

Hilton Food Group Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: N/A
• Expected Revenue: N/A
• Beat/Miss: N/A
• YoY Revenue Growth: N/A

Hilton Food Group Announcement Details

• Quarter: H1 2026
• Date: 9/3/2026
• Time: Before Market Opens
• Conference Call Date: Thursday, September 3, 2026
• Conference Call Time: 4:00AM ET

Hilton Food Group (LON:HFG) is a leading international food and supply chain services partner. We partner with leading retailers, brands and food service partners across the world. We offer a unique multi-category proposition of outstanding protein products including meat, seafood, vegan and vegetarian, and easier meals. We also offer a range of supply chain service expertise and solutions through our investment in innovative, leading technology such as Foods Connected, Agito Group and Cellular Agriculture Ltd. We are a business of over 7,000 employees, operating from 24 technologically advanced food processing, packing and logistics facilities across 19 markets in Europe, Asia Pacific and North America. Our business is built on long-term partnerships with our customers, suppliers, and people. Together we target long-term, sustainable growth and shared value. This is all delivered through our ESG strategy, The Sustainable Protein Plan.

Hilton Food Group H1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Positive Sentiment: Full-year adjusted PBT guidance increased to £66 million–£71 million, up from £60 million–£65 million, supported by stronger core businesses, favorable foreign exchange and the removal of Dalco losses from continuing operations.
• Positive Sentiment: Core meat and fresh prepared food businesses performed well, with volumes up 2.1% and constant-currency revenue up 11.5%; Central Europe was a standout, as fresh prepared food volumes rose 26% and the company plans a potentially larger capacity expansion in Poland.
• Negative Sentiment: Foppen remains a significant drag, with a low-single-digit operating loss in the first half, £7 million of exceptional costs and continued uncertainty over FDA approval to restart U.S. exports from Greece. Management said all future options for the business are under review and expects the situation to be addressed during 2027.
• Positive Sentiment: The company is simplifying its portfolio through the planned £5.4 million sale of Dalco, while Seachill’s improvement plan—including lower agency staffing, better fish yields and sourcing changes—is beginning to deliver early benefits that management expects to become more visible in the second half.
• Neutral Sentiment: Hilton remains on track to launch its Canada facility in January 2027 and Saudi Arabia operations in late fourth quarter 2026, but Canada’s total investment has increased; approximately £25 million of additional project spending is expected in the second half, with around £20 million for the later bacon expansion.

Presentation

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

Okay. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Matt and I are pleased to present our 2026 interim results today. As usual, there will be a chance to ask questions at the end of the presentation of both of us, and maybe even Samy, our Chief Operating Officer, who is with us today. I will pass the difficult questions to him. Over the next 25 minutes or so, we will take you through our financial performance and the progress we have made since announcing our updated strategy five months ago. It is early days, but I am encouraged. I am pleased by our colleagues across the organization, have supported the strategy and are working on its delivery. Let me start with the first half summary. We are getting on with doing what we said. There is always much more to do, but I am pleased with what we achieved so far. Profit was up in our core meat businesses.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

This includes further strong growth in the East region, particularly in Australia, and our fresh prepared foods business serving Central Europe. We are also realizing initial benefits from improvement plans in the U.K. at Seachill. These cannot be seen in the numbers yet, but we expect to see visibility in the second half. The challenges at Foppen will continue into the second half, and against this backdrop, we will assess all options for the future of this business. Despite this, group adjusted profit before tax from continuing operations of GBP 32.8 million was ahead of expectations. On the back of this, the board maintained our dividend in line with our progressive dividend policy. This first half performance gives us confidence in the full year outlook. We now expect PBT from continued operations to be in the range GBP 66 million-GBP 71 million. This is despite the ongoing Foppen challenges.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

This compares to our previous range of GBP 60 million-GBP 65 million. It includes the removal of expected losses from Dalco and a foreign currency tailwind. We are also making good commercial and strategic progress. Importantly, in the first half, we extended our commercial meat partnership with Tesco in the U.K. This follows previously announced contract extensions in both the Netherlands and Denmark in late 2025. The acronym SVV, short for Seafood, Vegetarian, and Vegan, will be short-lived. At the end of July, we announced the disposal of our vegetarian and vegan business, Dalco. This is expected to complete in quarter four 2026. It is a step towards simplifying the organization and a move towards our core strengths in meat and fresh prepared foods. We continue to invest in projects and develop platforms that will drive the future growth of Hilton Foods and deliver attractive returns.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

We are updating our plans to further increase capacity in Poland to meet the rapidly growing demand for fresh prepared food products in Central Europe. Canada is set for launch in January 2027. Bacon is also planned for later in the year. Our joint venture facility in Saudi Arabia is set to go live in quarter four this year. I am excited by the opportunity these new projects and partnerships bring for Hilton Foods. I will come back to this, but now I will hand over to Matt, who will take you through our first half performance.

[Matt Osborne, CFO at Hilton Food Group]

Thanks, Mark. Good morning, everyone. It's great to see you all. I'll walk you through our 2026 first half financials, as usual, highlighting the main drivers of volume, revenue, profit, cash flow, and net debt, and I'll cover the 2026 full year outlook. The results were underpinned by good performance from our meat and fresh prepared food businesses. This is where our core strengths lie, with our expert, committed teams utilizing scalable and automated facilities to produce high-quality products for our retail partners. Whilst our Seafood, Vegetarian, and Vegan businesses continue to face challenges, we're taking action. We've agreed the sale of Dalco, and we're starting to see the results of our performance improvement plans in Seachill. Moving now to the numbers. I'll focus on continuing operations, so excluding Dalco and of course Fairfax Meadow, which as you know, we sold in September last year.

[Matt Osborne, CFO at Hilton Food Group]

Volumes were up 2.1%, and with prices still at higher levels than 12 months ago, revenue was up 11.5% on a constant currency basis. Operating profit of GBP 45.8 million was 3.4% lower or 6.6% on a constant currency basis, with higher core profit more than offset by the impact of the challenges in Foppen. I'll go through a profit bridge shortly. The resulting operating profit margin was 2% compared to 2.4% last year. Profit before tax of GBP 32.8 million and adjusted earnings per share of GBP 0.257 were both down compared to last year, consistent with our lower operating profit, but ahead of expectations. As Mark says, we've declared a flat interim dividend of GBP 0.101. Net debt was slightly improved compared to the end of the first half last year.

[Matt Osborne, CFO at Hilton Food Group]

This chart shows volume and constant currency revenue growth in our new regional structure, specifically East, which includes Australia, New Zealand, Central Europe, and will include Saudi Arabia; West, which includes the U.K., Ireland, Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, and Portugal, and will include Canada; and Seafood, which includes Seachill and Foppen. We've also provided a slide in the appendix of the packs, bridging last year's revenue and operating profit comparatives from the old segments to these new ones. In the East, volumes were up in all markets. Growth was particularly strong in Central Europe, where fresh prepared food volumes were up 26%. Higher Australian beef prices were the key driver of revenue growth of 15.3%, with mix relatively stable between categories. In the West, volumes were slightly up. We saw good performance from the Nordics and our JV in Portugal, which offset lower volumes in the U.K. and the Netherlands.

[Matt Osborne, CFO at Hilton Food Group]

Although raw material inflation has largely slowed in Europe, prices remain at historically high levels. The impact this had on revenue was partially offset by negative mix movements, as we saw some customers trading down within beef categories. Overall revenue was up 9%. Seafood volumes were up 6%. Inflation continued to weigh on demand for whitefish and Seachill, but sales of salmon and prawns were up. Foppen volumes were also up as we met customer demand from our facility in the Netherlands. However, we experienced pressure on margins. Moving on to profit. On a constant currency basis, overall, core meat and fresh prepared food profit was up compared to last year, with growth in the East region more than offsetting lower profit from the West. In the East, we drove materially increased profit in Central Europe from fresh prepared foods, while Australia and New Zealand again delivered good volume growth.

[Matt Osborne, CFO at Hilton Food Group]

In the West, core profit was down, reflecting competitive pressures in Ireland and unfavorable mix movements in the U.K. In response, we are working with our customers to deliver targeted promotions in half two, while constantly reviewing our cost base against current volumes. As expected, Seafood operating profit was down. This almost entirely relates to squeeze margins in Foppen, resulting from unfavorable movements in salmon pricing and FX, whilst improvement plans in Seachill are starting to take effect. Central costs were down, with lower costs relating to share-based incentive plans, and with interest charges similar to last year, group PBT on a constant currency basis was down 8.9%. However, translational FX movements were positive for us in the period, particularly from the strengthening of the Australian dollar, and adjusted PBT on a reported basis was down 5.2%.

[Matt Osborne, CFO at Hilton Food Group]

Our updated full year guidance reflects the anticipated positive impact of FX rates over the second half of the year. Moving on to exceptional items, which are excluded from our underlying results. We incurred exceptional costs of GBP 7 million relating to Foppen in the first half. Around half of this related to the relocation of production from Greece to the Netherlands to ensure continuity of supply to our customers in the U.S. We remain focused on minimizing the impact and expect to stop exceptionalizing these operational costs in the second half of this year. The remainder of the Foppen cost relates to the additional cost of air freight, which we stopped in April, and a one-off loss of inventory due to a fire in a third-party warehouse in the U.S. Across the group, we incurred exceptional reorganization and restructuring costs of GBP 3.2 million, largely related to redundancy.

[Matt Osborne, CFO at Hilton Food Group]

We also incurred transformation costs of GBP 4.6 million, as activity ramps up to drive efficiency, strengthen our operational capability, and drive growth. We expect exceptional cash transformation costs of around GBP 10 million per year over the next few years. In addition, there was a GBP 16.7 million non-cash impairment relating to Dalco, which is now classified as held for sale. Moving to cash flow and net debt. EBITDA was down in line with total profit, with typical seasonality and working capital resulting in outflows in the period. We did not repeat last year's first half investment in inventory. However, we have taken the decision to purchase additional inventory in the U.K. in half two to ensure supply for Christmas 2026 and Easter 2027. We remain disciplined on capital investment in our existing facilities. With fewer new projects, net core capital expenditure of GBP 15.4 million was lower than last year.

[Matt Osborne, CFO at Hilton Food Group]

As a result, adjusted free cash flow was positive. We are into the last year of major investment in our new Canada facility. In total, we have now spent GBP 80 million, with operations due to commence in January 2027. We expect to spend around GBP 25 million in the second half of the year to complete the core project, with CapEx relating to bacon being spent in 2027. Total CapEx will be higher than originally assumed a year ago, which includes both changes in scope and incremental inflationary pressures on building materials and automation equipment. We expect the project will generate significant value for the group, and it provides an important platform for future growth and long-term returns. We have also paid GBP 3.6 million towards the joint venture project in Saudi Arabia in half one, with remaining payments expected in the second half.

[Matt Osborne, CFO at Hilton Food Group]

Net bank debt was a little under GBP 200 million at the half year, lower than at the same time last year. This equates to leverage of 1.4x. Our balance sheet remains strong. As we said in March, we have strengthened our access to funding with GBP 450 million of revolving credit facilities for at least the next five years, providing flexibility to deliver future growth. In addition, these bank facilities are enhanced by the ongoing benefits of our lease and customer supply chain financing, with margins typically 0.5-1.5 percentage points lower than our bank facility. Before I hand back to Mark, let me cover the outlook. Overall, trading from our core meat and fresh prepared food businesses was strong in the first half of the year. In addition, improvement plans are starting to deliver in Seachill. However, significant challenges continue in Foppen.

[Matt Osborne, CFO at Hilton Food Group]

As Mark said earlier, we now expect to achieve full-year adjusted PBT from continuing operations in the range of GBP 66 million-GBP 71 million. This is higher than our previous range of GBP 60 million-GBP 65 million, despite the ongoing challenges in Foppen, and reflects the removal of Dalco losses from continuing operations and the favorable FX movements I talked about earlier. As previously guided, we expect net bank debt to increase over 2026. It will also now include the impact of the additional second half investment inventory, though we expect to remain comfortably within our targeted 1x-2x leverage range. Full year CapEx is still expected to be around GBP 100 million. Core CapEx is trending to be at or below the lower end of our GBP 50 million-GBP 55 million guidance, alongside further CapEx in Canada as the project nears completion.

[Matt Osborne, CFO at Hilton Food Group]

Looking beyond 2026, we expect first positive earnings contributions for our investments in Canada and Saudi Arabia next year. Alongside the resilience and growth potential of our existing core business, this provides a good platform for the future. Thanks for listening. I will now hand back to Mark.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

Thanks, Matt. An encouraging first half. I am pleased with our performance. Let me now touch upon our strategic progress. Our vision is to be the global partner of choice built on our world-class red meat capabilities. We believe this is an apt description of what Hilton Foods is, particularly with the high growth potential from fresh prepared foods. Our competitive advantage comes from our strong capabilities and positions in red meat. Moves into adjacent categories with good margins will be aligned to these. Let me remind you of the three growth levers we laid out earlier this year. These will be the cornerstones of our growth plans. The first is maximizing the core, essentially continuing to utilize our existing structural advantages as well as driving continuous improvement. The second lever is enhancing the mix. We are focused on increasing our exposure to sustainably higher margin and growing segments.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

We'll do this through scaling in areas where we already have existing relationships and capabilities. For example, in value-added meat and fresh prepared foods. Enhancing the mix is also about ensuring our portfolio is optimized. This includes resolving challenges in our Seafood businesses, particularly in Foppen. The third lever is geographic expansion, replicating our partnership model in new underdeveloped markets. We'll do this through differentiated quality, efficiency, and innovation. We've made good initial progress against each of these growth levers. It's important we continue to focus on maximizing the performance of our core meat businesses. This is our heartland and where our inherent strength lies. In March, we said we'd drive further manufacturing excellence throughout the group. We continue to invest in automation to improve efficiency. A good example is the use of our line control technology in our factory in Huntingdon.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

We've materially reduced mince waste by utilizing machine learning to continuously optimize pack weights. This is being rolled out across our product lines and factories. We also said we continue to focus on product innovation and category leadership. This is increasingly a feature of the food supply chain. Food innovation has always been core to what we do. We continue to develop new targeted product ranges for our customers. These respond to the wider economic environment and changing consumer trends. In the first half, we introduced mixed protein mince in Denmark and the Netherlands. This comes with a lower price point. We also introduced a new flavored mince product in the U.K. This provides customers with a differentiated value-add product. We're expanding into adjacent categories. This includes slow cook products, which are increasingly popular with customers.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

Although still a relatively small percentage of the U.K. sales, sous-vide volumes were up 6% in the first half. This remains an area of potential growth for us. Our focus on quality, efficiency, and innovation is the reason why our retail customers choose us. I've already mentioned that we extended our meat partnership with Tesco in the U.K. in the first half. We also continue to seek new commercial opportunities. We plan to roll out the supply of products to our partners in New Zealand's South Island stores in the second half. This is in addition to our existing supply to North Island stores. We're now supplying Burger King Sweden. This follows our investment in frozen burger lines in 2025 for our retail partner, ICA. This is an example of how we can use existing capacity to add profitable volume with new customers.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

These are just some examples of how we're maximizing the value of our existing core operations. This helps us deliver volume growth against a backdrop of continued high raw material prices. Moving on to enhancing the mix. A key component of this is optimizing our portfolio. We said in March we'd look for solutions to resolve challenges in our Seafood and Vegan and Vegetarian businesses. Our overarching objective is to reduce earnings volatility and improve group returns. That means creating greater flexibility and optionality for future value realization from these businesses. In July, we announced we'd agreed to sell Dalco to Livekindly for GBP 5.4 million. The transaction is expected to complete in quarter four. Dalco has good facilities, but the market requires consolidation. I'm pleased that Dalco is going to a buyer whose vision is aligned with this.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

For our Seafood businesses, we are taking a very focused and disciplined approach to investment and performance. In the U.K. at Seachill, we have been implementing a range of initiatives. These include improvements focused on increasing yields. We have also restructured some departments to right size the business. There is more to do, but I am pleased with the progress made to drive this business back to profitability. In Foppen, we continue our efforts to improve commercial performance. This is key given the poor financial result in the first half of the year. We are also driving operational efficiencies. However, we still await clarity from the FDA on the restart of exports to the United States from our facility in Greece. The outlook for Foppen continues to look challenging. We recognize the current situation cannot continue indefinitely. As a result, we will assess all options for the future of the business. Now turning to fresh prepared food.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

We are also looking to enhance our mix by moving more materially into fresh prepared food categories. These are traditionally higher margin. They also have higher growth rates. The market in Central Europe is forecast to grow at 8% per annum. We continue to develop plans to materially increase capacity and upgrade facilities in Poland. We estimated back in March that investment of around GBP 30 million would roughly double the capacity of our facility. However, we are assessing opportunities with our partners to materially increase the scale of this expansion. This would future-proof our long-term growth ambitions. This may result in higher capital expenditure, but also higher profit expectations. Full scoping of the longer-term project is expected to be completed around the end of 2026. Subject to suitable returns, we could start spending CapEx in 2027, and operation could commence as early as the back end of 2028.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

In the meantime, we have implemented capital-light plans to meet growing nearer-term demand. Geographical expansion is the third growth lever. As you know, we have two current projects in Canada and Saudi Arabia. Both are expected to generate earnings in 2027. I recently visited our new state-of-the-art facility in Canada. Fit-out is nearly complete, and it looks impressive. Once operational, it will be our most automated facility. We said it would be operational in 2027, and I am pleased to say we are on track to launch right at the start of the year, with production ramping up over the first half. At the same time, we will work on installing the bacon production lines, and they will come on stream later in 2027. The facility in Saudi Arabia, built by our partners, NADEC, is expected to commence operations in late quarter four 2026.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

It is an important milestone for the group, and this is for a period of at least 10 years. More broadly, we see further opportunity through our retail partners' international footprints and network. As I said at the start, we are doing exactly what we said. Let me close by outlining my confidence in the future. We have a resilient and cash generative core business. This is supported by structural advantages and a strong record of execution. The first half performance of our core meat and fresh prepared food businesses helps demonstrate this. We have well invested sites. We estimate it would cost well over GBP 1 billion to replicate our manufacturing capability. This strong platform gives us an envious position. We have a clear strategy to drive growth. This is built around maximizing the core, enhancing the mix, and expanding geographically.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

I've provided you with some examples how we're delivering against this growth agenda. We will apply a disciplined approach to capital allocation. We will only invest in opportunities that generate attractive returns and underpin our group return on capital employed target of at least 20%. This positions us to deliver sustainable profit growth, strong cash generation, and reduced volatility. We believe this will deliver compelling value for our shareholders as we focus on being the global partner of choice built on world-class red meat capabilities. That concludes the presentation. Thanks for your time in listening. I'll now chair the Q&A. As usual, can you ask questions via me, and I will allocate appropriately, as I said before, the difficult ones to Samy. Can I also ask that you introduce yourselves and your institution, particularly for the benefit of those listening to the call. Thank you.

[Damian McNeela, Analyst at Deutsche Numis]

Morning, everybody. Damian McNeela from Deutsche Numis. Could we talk a little bit about the competitive dynamics in Ireland, please, Mark? I know this might be a tricky one for Samy, but also how we should think about the volume outlook for the second half and how the retailers are thinking about Christmas relative to last year, given where the consumer is. Can you remind us about how much the bacon investment is in Canada and what the incremental sort of volumes are attached with that, please?

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

Looks like you're going to be busy, Samy. Let me talk about the landscape in the run-up to Christmas. Actually, if I'm honest, it looks pretty positive for us and I think we spend, if we're not careful, a lot of time in this room talking about the U.K. I said in the presentation that the business isn't just about the U.K., it's effectively a global business. The U.K., I think is probably about 1/4 of the overall. If we focus on the U.K. specifically, we're pretty optimistic about the second half. We see evidence that there is a lot of activity around promotions coming that we're working with our customers to deliver against. We think the second half is going to be particularly strong.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

If I hand over to Samy to talk a little bit about Ireland and the competitive dynamics over there, then maybe we will both come back and talk about bacon at the end.

[Samy Zekhout, COO of West Division at Hilton Food Group]

Very good. I think you raised the point, effectively, in Ireland, where we have had challenges, and a lot of it is coming from volume. A year ago, we have added actually volume with Dunnes. We increased capacity in that respect. Since then, effectively, our volume have been under pressure, primarily from a competitive standpoint, as our customers were effectively tendering opportunities towards other options that they had. At this stage, it is a cost dynamic that we are trying to address over there in order for us to be competitive and regain volume momentum over there. We have a great facility. Let me put that in the perspective of the fact that Ireland more or less is about roughly, let's say, a bit of 1/4 of the U.K. in terms of size. It is important, I do not deny that.

[Samy Zekhout, COO of West Division at Hilton Food Group]

It is a market where effectively the meat consumption is high. On the other side, in terms of a group impact, it is effectively manageable within the grand scheme of things that we have. The volume dynamic is currently being addressed by reviewing all of the opportunities we have from a cost-saving standpoint. I think Mark alluded to that in his speech relating to all opportunities we have on effective giveaway or effective productivity and line speed and automation and so on, which we are addressing at this stage to make our offer much more competitive and regain volume momentum.

[Samy Zekhout, COO of West Division at Hilton Food Group]

The expectation now is to effectively eradicate a bit the impact of this volume dynamic that is hurting us, to be fair, and through effectively a stronger intervention on cost, that is going to position us much more favorably in the future tenders that are going to come across, and so that we effectively regain volume momentum coming into the next year. Christmas, of course, is going to be an integrated part of that. Extremely important to the overall business dynamic in Ireland.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

Okay, if we talk a little bit about Canada, I will start, and if I miss anything, Samy can come in. I am going to start by saying there has been a lot of debate around the investment in Canada over the last 12 months, and it has been almost seen as a negative. I would come from the opposite end of the telescope and say our investment in Canada is a huge positive. I was over there with Samy a few weeks ago. Samy was there last week. I have no doubt that come 2027, there will be invites going out for you to come and have a look at it. This is a world-class facility by anybody's definition. I think it is going to set the standard for the packing of meat globally. It is an impressive location.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

Yes, the costs have gone up, but ultimately, the costs get paid back through the model that we have. If we want to go into the detail of that, Matt can probably articulate that better than anybody. In round terms, and this is not absolutely specific, the incremental CapEx on bacon will be about GBP 20 million-ish. It will be there or thereabout, and the returns will be in line with our return on capital employed of 20%. Let me just go back a while, and for those of you that have been involved in Hilton for longer than me, you will remember that when we invested in Australia in the early days, there is a gradual buildup.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

For this year as an example, we will start packing meat at the very beginning of January, and we will ramp up production to get to about the half year before we hit anything like full production. So you do not get the returns while you are ramping up. They come in years three, four, five when the business is established. That is a typical Hilton model. That is what happened on every investment of scale that we have made in the past, and this one is no different. The final bit that I would say, yeah, the costs have gone up, but could you tell me any building project globally where in the last 12 months costs have not gone up given the world that we live in? I do not think there is any. It maybe sounds like I am being a bit defensive of it. I am not.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

Actually, I want to be able to start talking about the real positive things that are going to come from this. Because if we get this right, the opportunities with Walmart are never ending. That is where we should be focusing our attention, getting the launch right, getting the ramp up right, and actually demonstrating to people like yourselves and our shareholders just what a great facility we have got. Have I missed anything there, Samy? No?

[Samy Zekhout, COO of West Division at Hilton Food Group]

No, complete.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

Thank you. Thanks.

[Charles Hall, Analyst at Peel Hunt]

Charles Hall from Peel Hunt. You haven't said much about Australia in these sets of results. Is it just business as usual? And obviously, there's been quite a lot of price inflation for protein in Australia as well. It seems as though the consumer is more resilient in that market. Are there any more opportunities for future business or investment in Australia?

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

Sounds like I've been doing a lot of traveling recently because I probably have. I've just recently been down to Australia as well. Look, the Australia business is a great business. Got great facilities, and we've got a customer that really values what we do for them. I said in my speech presentation that we are starting to supply in the South Island in New Zealand. That's happening as we speak. We're already doing some stores. We'll have all the stores under our remit, I think, by the end of October, November. So we're growing the business. We talk about inflation. One of the benefits of gray hairs and age is you've seen inflation and deflation lots of times over the years. We have to play the cards we're dealt. Wherever we operate, whatever country we operate in, you can only operate in that marketplace.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

Australia's a good example where there has been inflation. But working with the customer, we've managed to grow volumes as well as have the raw material price increases. It demonstrates if you work hand in glove with your partner, you can, in whatever dynamics that exist at a particular time, do a really good job of generating value for both. I know because when I was over there, effectively, the number two in Woolworths was just about as complimentary to my team down there as I've ever heard a retailer about any team. That's a great place to be, and the results are speaking for themselves. The results are very strong in Australia and New Zealand.

[Charles Hall, Analyst at Peel Hunt]

Then switching to Seachill. Do you think you've now put the measures in place to turn it back into profitability? Can you just explain a little bit more about what you're actually doing to increase yields and what the impact on the business is?

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

Yeah. I smile when I say this because I think people have sat in this chair before and said that they've sorted it out. Look, I think we're doing all the right things in the business in terms of getting it into a good place. We're focused on cost in terms of people. We've dramatically reduced the number of agency staff that we have on site. That's direct onto the bottom line. We've had projects looking at yield out of fish. One of the challenges with any protein is maximizing the use of all the parts. You've heard other people that work in the protein world talk about those things. We perhaps hadn't been as good at that as we should and ought to have been, and we've worked quite hard on that. We're working hard on making sure we're sourcing in the right way as well.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

It's a business improvement plan that runs right across the gambit. You haven't seen an impact in the numbers, but we are already into the second half. Whilst we're reporting in September, we've got two months of the second half, and we can see the benefits that are coming through from the work we're doing at Seachill already. It's a business that we should be interested in getting into the right place. If you look at the world that we all operate in now, and you don't need me to tell you this, pure protein is becoming a more important part of the diet, particularly as more people get into GLPs, whether they're injections or tablets. Tablets are coming, and that means more people are going to be doing it.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

If you do get involved in that, one of the things that the medical teams tell you've got to consume more protein because it impacts muscles as well as fat. If you said to me, "What do you think about Seachill?" I think we need to have a really good go at seeing if we can find a sustainable, tangible business out of that business before we do anything else with it. That's what we do, and that's what our plans are focused on.

[Charles Hall, Analyst at Peel Hunt]

Perfect. Thanks.

[Matthew Webb, Analyst at Investec]

Thank you. Morning. Matthew Webb from Investec. Sorry to be the one to ask some questions about Foppen. First, is there any update on getting regulatory approval for exports into the U.S. from Greece? Second, is there a route back to break even if you don't get that approval? Third, if you conclude that there's no way through here and decide that you have to close the business down, what would the practical implications of that be in terms of your contractual responsibilities, and what do you think the cost of that would be? Thank you.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

The first thing I'd say, Matthew, is look, we are a bit like Seachill. We are looking at what the art of the possible is for this business, but we are doing it a little bit with hands tied behind our back. In doing that, I'll answer the first part of your question. No, we haven't had any update. I think I've probably said this to you before. We submitted our response to the audit, and then we got feedback with four other things that needed to be sorted. We resubmitted to dealing with those four things. That would have been probably April time that we went that back, around about April. Don't hold me to that date. We've heard nothing. In terms of your second part of the question, what can you do to improve matters?

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

Really, we need that decision before we can fully roll our sleeves up and start to improve matters because what is absolutely clear, running Preveza in Greece with little or no volume going through it and putting through the volume in Harderwijk in Holland is more expensive. You've seen that in our numbers, and it's part of the reasons that we've got challenges in the second half, and we're taking those numbers on the chin rather than putting them through the exceptional lines. Therein lies the challenge. Do we think there is a way through to get the business to at least break even? Yes, there is definitely a way through, and very simply, you look at your cost base. Well, cost base is where you manufacture, how you manufacture, how efficient you are in that manufacturing, how you source your product, et cetera, et cetera.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

You do all of those things, and also you work with your customers to make sure that you're providing them with the right products at the right margin. In the U.S., we've got a couple of really very good customers that do give the business a reason to believe there is a route out of this. We're focused on that, and we'll be focused on it in the coming months. Ultimately, we will have to improve matters at Foppen. What I would say very simply is during 2027, Foppen will be dealt with.

[Matthew Webb, Analyst at Investec]

Thank you very much.

[Clive Black, Analyst at Shore Capital]

Clive Black from Shore Capital. A number of rather disparate questions. First of all, what are the components of the ongoing transformation work? I think you talked about GBP 10 million ongoing. Secondly, there was a very big working capital movement year-on-year. In steady state, what would you see as a sensible expectation for working capital movement in the business? Then lastly, I think Central Europe has probably been one of the surprise features of this company in the last five years. What are the components driving Central Europe, and how do you see the prospects there? Have we traveled and arrived or is there more to go for? Thank you.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

Okay. Matt has been really quiet, so I am going to let him do the first of those, and then I will do the glory one at the end on Central Europe, Matt.

[Matt Osborne, CFO at Hilton Food Group]

The first two, I get, I think. Yeah.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

First two of those, yeah.

[Matt Osborne, CFO at Hilton Food Group]

I will start with working capital. We would expect for this year probably a small outflow, modest outflow, year-on-year. I think we touched on we will be purchasing some primal in the second half to ensure we hit primarily Christmas, but that will flow through into Easter, and given where prices have moved, that probably gives a small outflow. But modest. I would talk kind of low, high single-digit edging into double.

[Matt Osborne, CFO at Hilton Food Group]

Low double. Yeah, that sort of area. So, relatively modest. I think steady state, that is kind of where we should sit. Now obviously, first half into second half, we see different dynamics given where we kind of end the year at Christmas, which is kind of probably the most advantageous time for us given the dynamics of our customer base. But that is where I think we would sit. In terms of the transformation program, a number of areas here. We are looking at our kind of wider IT and data infrastructure across the business, so using data to drive decisions, but enhance the technology we have. That is a big part of the work stream. Then there is a wider organizational design piece focusing initially on central support functions, but beyond that, looking at what is the right organizational design for our business.

[Matt Osborne, CFO at Hilton Food Group]

Where we sit is how do we get the benefits of what we have and the local focus we have, but then also utilize what is the strength of an ever-growing business as well? So where is the right fit between that local expertise and the central support function? So that is on that piece as well. Then there is kind of wider strategy work streams within that, too. So that is an ongoing program, as we said.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

If we talk about Central Europe, this is a real sweet spot for us. I do not think we can deny that at all. I think last year the business grew quite a bit over 20%. Or this year is growing- Yeah, first half has grown over 20%. That is against a backdrop where our meat business over there is probably flattish. All the growth comes from fresh prepared foods. You say, well, why are you doing so well? Well, it comes back to the things that Hilton has historically been very good at. Innovation.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

Our customers demand innovation, and we would be launching new products at a rate of knots. They demand that you are efficient, and I think we run a very efficient facility there. They demand quality. We deliver against those three criteria. During this year, the expectations from certainly from Żabka, which is the biggest buyer of the fresh prepared foods, but there are others that buy fresh prepared foods from us, their volume is probably, I do not know, more than doubled during the year.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

It is working with those guys that is encouraging us to lay down investment. We are laying that investment down in the form of a partnership, not with huge commercial risks. So it is more akin to a typical Hilton longer term contractual relationship than a short-term commercial relationship. So, Central Europe is a really exciting place for us. Would we do fresh prepared foods in other places? Some, but maybe not, and definitely not here in the U.K. But we have got a very good business in Central Europe.

[Clive Black, Analyst at Shore Capital]

Thank you very much. Excellent.

[Anubhav Malhotra, Analyst at Panmure Liberum]

Hi, it is Anubhav Malhotra from Panmure Liberum. I have a couple as well. Firstly, on the guidance for this year. Obviously, for the first half, for the results, you said numbers were ahead of expectations and you seem to be excited about the prospects of second half in the U.K., in New Zealand. Just why is the guidance kept stable on underlying basis? I know there is benefits from Dalco and FX in there. Is it all due to the Foppen losses increasing or there is anything else? Then related to that, what is the extent of Foppen losses we should be seeing in the second half, given some of these exceptional costs are being brought into underlying now? Thank you.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

I will let Matt talk specifically about the numbers in a second. Maybe I will talk about the principles. Look, the base business is doing very well and I am sure you have picked up, we are happy with the way it is performing. As a total. Anybody that operates businesses around the world and tells you every business is doing fantastically well, I would question whether they are being straightforward. So we have businesses in some areas that are doing better than others, but that is the benefit of having a group. The fundamentals of our meat and freshly prepared food businesses are rock solid, doing very well. But we have got a challenge at Foppen, so we are being, I think, realistically cautious in setting expectations, and I suspect if most of you were sitting in Samy, Matt, or my chair, you would do exactly the same. So, let us not get ahead of ourselves.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

We've got lots to do. Getting Foppen into a better place, and Seachill for that matter, are things that are on the agenda. Matt, do you want to talk specifically about the numbers?

[Matt Osborne, CFO at Hilton Food Group]

Yeah. For half one of this year, Foppen made, it was a low single-digit operating loss. Look, we've talked about absorbing exceptional costs or de-exceptionalizing, I don't know if that's a word, but in the second half. That will obviously add to that, plus I think we see a continuation of the challenges we've had in the first half as well. That's kind of where we sit. It looks a meaningful movement for us, as Mark says, offsetting the strengths of the core and some of the improvements we're seeing in the Seachill business as well.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

I'll just lighten the mood a bit. You would be forgiven for thinking somebody's trying to have us over here, because we get Foppen started supplying through boats rather than flying, which is a big cost reduction. We get product into the U.S., and then somebody sets fire to a warehouse with all our product in it. You think, "What the hell? What the hell's going on?" We have to, having got the product there, we end up writing off another just over GBP 1 million in somebody else's warehouse. Rest assured, we're on with getting Foppen to a better place. It's taking some time and effort. But the challenges, as I said to the previous question, we can get it to a better place, but we need answers from the FDA to help us do that.

[Anubhav Malhotra, Analyst at Panmure Liberum]

Can I just follow on that? Do the FDA have to adhere to a timeline to give you a response or not really?

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

What do you think?

[Anubhav Malhotra, Analyst at Panmure Liberum]

Clearly not, but-

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

I was going to be flippant there. I won't be. They don't, and that's the challenge. They're under no obligation to give us our answer in a month, a week, or six months.

[Anubhav Malhotra, Analyst at Panmure Liberum]

On Central Europe, can I ask, you mentioned some short-term capital light measures you're doing to maintain production volumes. Are they limiting profitability in any way at the moment of the business that could be released once you have proper capacity installed?

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

Look, if we could switch the brand-new facility on tomorrow, once we have commissioned it and got up and running, the opportunity would be there to make more money. What we are doing is working with our customers, you would expect us to do, to grow volumes in realistic timescales and realistic capabilities. We are working with them. I am over there at their conference in two or three weeks' time, to talk to the CEO of the group and the CEO of Poland about our plans. I think they are very happy with what we do for them. Of course, if you have got more capability, there are more opportunities, which is why I think, when we come back and talk about the investment, I think as I said in my presentation, the investment will be more than GBP 30 million, which is what we flagged up before.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

The returns will be significantly higher as well.

[Anubhav Malhotra, Analyst at Panmure Liberum]

Thank you.

[Mark Allen, CEO at Hilton Food Group]

Okay. No more questions? Thanks, everybody. Thanks for the questions. We are hanging around for a little while if you want to grab us individually, feel free. No doubt we are talking to various sales desks and stuff over the next few days, so we will see you then. Thanks again.

Participants

Executives

• Mark Allen, CEO
• Matt Osborne, CFO
• Samy Zekhout, COO of West Division

Analysts

• Damian McNeela, Analyst at Deutsche Numis
• Charles Hall, Analyst at Peel Hunt
• Matthew Webb, Analyst at Investec
• Clive Black, Analyst at Shore Capital
• Anubhav Malhotra, Analyst at Panmure Liberum