Hilton Food tumbles on placing

Shares of food packing company Hilton Food tumbled on Friday after an undisclosed institutional shareholder placed a 9.9% stake.

According to traders, 8.1m shares in the company were placed at between 1,050p and 1,100p - compared to Thursday's closing price of 1,164p - with JPMorgan the bookrunner.

A trader said it's likely the seller is Fidelity Management & Research.

At 1005 GMT, Hilton shares were down 11.9% at 1,026p.

On Thursday, the company said it had performed ahead of its expectations as it continues to benefit from a shift to home consumption amid the Covid-19 crisis.

In an update for the 53 weeks to 3 January, the company said it had seen a continuation of strong year-on-year sales and volume growth, driven by both its own expansion and the change in people’s eating habits since the pandemic.