Investing.com -- Shares in Hilton Food Group (LON: HFG ) traded higher on Tuesday after the food packaging business posted stronger-than-expected revenue growth, driven by a solid performance in the UK and Ireland meat and seafood segments.

Hilton beat top-line expectations by nearly 100 basis points, thanks to a 9% rise in volumes in its UK and Ireland operations.

Growth in this core market helped offset headwinds in Asia-Pacific, where raw material price deflation continued to weigh on results, though the impact eased in the second half.

In Europe, the Cambridgeshire-based food processor booked a £9.8 million non-cash impairment charge related to goodwill from its Dalco acquisition. Despite this, operating profit margins in the region remained steady year-on-year.

Group-wide, adjusted operating profit margin increased by 12% on a constant currency basis. In the UK, margins improved by 80 basis points, supported by record Christmas volumes across meat and seafood.

In Asia-Pacific, margins edged up by 10 basis points, despite a 10% price deflation and reduced interest cost recovery.

Hilton sees a strong start to the new financial year and reaffirms its full-year guidance.

Company consensus predicts FY25 adjusted pre-tax profit between £76.8 million and £83.3 million.

Visible Alpha anticipates 3% revenue growth and a 6% rise in reported EPS for the year.

As part of its international growth strategy, the chilled food supplier has announced plans to enter Saudi Arabia using a capital-light model.

It also confirmed that its partnership with Walmart (NYSE: WMT ) in Canada is progressing as planned, with operations set to launch in early 2027.

“The wisdom of the last few years of capital allocation has been debatable; however, we are reassured by the company’s increased focus on organic expansion,” said analysts at RBC Capital Markets in a note.