Hilton Foods Ireland, the Irish subsidiary of Northern Ireland-based meat packer Hilton Food Group, saw a sharp decline in profits last year due to higher meat prices. Accounts filed with the companies office (CRO) show Hilton Foods Ireland made pre-tax profits of just over €1.8m for its 2018 financial year, which was down 22% on the group’s 2017 performance.

Hilton Foods Ireland, which operates a processing and packaging facility in Drogheda, reported a 7% increase in sales for the year to just under €137m. Operating profits in the business fell sharply by 20% last year to just over €1.9m, as operating profit margins narrowed to 1.4%.

The group blamed the weaker performance on higher prices for beef, as well as the ‘highly competitive’ conditions of the meat retail sector. Hilton’s facility in Drogheda is supplied with primary meat cuts from Irish meat processors such as ABP and Dawn Meats. These primal cuts are sliced and packaged at the Drogheda facility for sale in Tesco stores in the UK and Ireland.

ADVERTISEMENT