BUSINESS LIVE: Topps Tiles repairs slowdown; Hilton Food sales near £4bn; Peel Hunt heads for a loss

Milo Bussell, associate analyst of consumer & media at Edison Group:

‘Hilton Food Group’s FY23 results demonstrated a robust revenue performance despite the inflationary backdrop.

‘Profitability was significantly boosted due to the recovery in Seafood completing ahead of schedule.

‘The robust performance enabled a 7.7% increase in the total dividend to 32.0p (FY22: 29.7p).

‘Despite a persistently challenging backdrop, management notes trading in 2024 has so far been in line with expectations.

‘Given the improvement in the financial position, management noted it would explore greater geographic expansion or potential M&A alongside opportunities with existing partners.’

More than £20billion was wiped off the value of Tesla last night after it reported the first fall in car sales for four years.

The US electric car maker, led by billionaire Elon Musk, delivered 386,810 vehicles in the three months to the end of March.

Shares in the owner of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger tumbled 23 per cent as weak demand hits the business.

PVH, which is listed in New York, warned of a 6-to-7 per cent fall in revenues this year following a slowdown across North America and Europe.  That compares with a 2 per cent rise last year. It also said profits would be lower than hoped.

Peel Hunt expects to post a full-year loss as the brokerage suffers the impact of higher cost pressures and weaker trading volumes.

Revenue for the year is expected to come in 4 per cent higher year-on-year at £85.5million, driven largely by investment banking with merger and acquisition revenues ‘accounting for a large proportion’ of fees.

Looking foward it said headwinds look set to continue ‘until there are meaningful signs of recovery in the UK economy and fund outflows reverse’.

It added: ‘However, we continue to be active in public M&A, with financial advisory mandates on both the buy and sell side.

‘Whilst IPO activity in the UK remains muted, there has been more activity in Europe and sentiment towards IPOs is improving in the UK, with investors increasingly willing to engage in relation to high quality companies.’

British manufacturers have clocked up their first month of growth for nearly two years as the economy bounces back.

In another sign last year’s recession is firmly over, S&P Global said its index of activity in UK factories rose from 47.5 in February to 50.3 in March.

It was the first reading over the crucial 50 level that separates growth from decline for 20 months.

FTSE 250 meat processing and packing services Hilton Food Group saw sales near £4billion last year as its core business continued to perform well and its seafood category returned to operating profitability.

Revenues grew 3.9 per cent to £3.99billion, with volumes up 0.7 per cent, driving statutory operating profits 59.4 per cent higher to £86.1million.

Boss Steve Murrells said:

‘Over the past year we’ve remained focused on executing our strategy which has resulted in a good performance against a challenging market. I am particularly pleased with the results in our seafood category, returning to full year operating profitability following a successful turnaround.

‘Our core meat category performed strongly and we worked closely with customers to offer the highest quality and most relevant food products to consumers.’

Royal Mail has named a senior Heathrow executive as its next boss – just as it hikes the price of stamps for the third time in a year.

Emma Gilthorpe, who is the airport’s chief operating officer, will join the delivery group on May 1, parent company International Distribution Services (IDS) said.

She will then take over the Royal Mail arm of the business in the summer.

Gilthorpe succeeds interim boss Martin Seidenberg.

Topps Tiles has warned weak demand in the domestic repairs and maintenance sector have persisted in 2024, particularly within big-ticket items, with profits set to be hit by lower volumes this year.

The FTSE 250 group said: ‘Group profitability in the first half of the year will be impacted by a number of factors including the weaker market, the timing of the holiday pay accrual and seasonally higher energy usage in the period. We continue to expect the Group’s profits in 2024 to be weighted towards the second half as indicated in our Q1 trading update.’