Princes Group (PRN.LN) 2Q26: More of the same

Research evidence excerpt

15 September 2026

Callum Elliott, CFA, ACA

European Food

Princes Group PLC

Victoria Nice, CFA

Rating

Outperform

Henry Dennis

Price Target

PRN.LN

590.00 GBp

Simran Cheema

Princes Group (PRN.LN) 2Q26: More of the same

Princes reported its 2Q/1H26 results this morning, with a mixed set of numbers which we

expect are unlikely to dispel the fears that have surrounded the company over the past six

months.

To anyone unfamiliar with the business, we expect that headline numbers would look solid.

Group sales growth of +7.1%, EBITDA growth of +7.5%, and Free Cash Flow growth of

+20% all seem remarkably strong for a business that’s currently trading at around 3x EV/

EBITDA. However, we note that these reported figures include the benefit of the Plasmon

acquisition (and other peripheral M&A), as well as FX tailwinds. We estimate that underlying

sales growth - not disclosed by the company in the release - is around -1% in Q2, a slight

improvement from our estimate of -2.5% at 1Q, but still well short of where we would

expect the business to deliver over the longer-term. Similarly, whilst margins benefit from

M&A integration, and successful in-housing activities related to Plasmon, the underlying

performance disappoints, with EBITDA margins just over 20bps behind our expectations,

and operating margins even further behind due to an unexpected step-up in D&A charges.

Management calls out a “strong innovation pipeline” for H2, as well as broad-based price

increases that were implemented as of 1 July, which should be supportive to both revenue

growth, as well as margins, beginning in Q3. However, with the cost outlook likely looking

worse today than it did when the magnitude of those price increases was agreed, it remains

to be seen whether these increases will be sufficient to drive a stabilization in underlying

margin performance, and help synergy delivery flow to the bottom-line.

Close Date

14 Sep 2026

PRN.LN Close Price (GBp)

302.00

Price Target (GBp)

590.00

Upside/(Downside)

95%

52-Week Range

498.00/295.00

EMLSF

6,529.64

FYE

Dec

Div Yield

NA

Market Cap (GBP) (M)

739

EV (GBp) (M)

559.36

Performance

YTD

1M

6M

Absolute (%)

(32.9)

(7.9)

(19.6)

NA

EMLSF (%)

8.3

3.8

10.8

13.0

…