In the US, Landec Corporation has announced that is enjoyed a strong third quarter of fiscal 2011, rounding off a positive first nine months of the year.
Revenues through the third quarter (Q3) of the year increased US$15.4m on the same period of 2010, primarily due to the acquisition of Lifecore, while export revenues climbed US$3.7m, or 43 per cent.
However, the group revealed that increased revenues were partially offset by lower revenues from Apio's value-added, fresh-cut vegetable business, due to weather-related fresh produce sourcing issues.
Net income for the quarter grew to US$2.3m, again due to the US$4.2m of net income before taxes from Lifecore, partially offset by a US$2.4m decrease in Apio net income.
Gary Steele, Landec chairman and CEO, noted that 'considerable progress' had been made in a number of areas through the third quarter of fiscal 2011, including the continued expansion by Chiquita of its programme for Fresh & Ready Avocados packaged in Landec's BreathWay technology.
The success of Q3 helped boost revenues for the first nine months of the year by US$28.6m, or 16 per cent year-on-year, while net income jumped 22 per cent to US$6.7m from US$5.5m in 2010.
'Going into our fourth fiscal quarter, we continue to experience adverse weather conditions with heavy rains throughout California,' said Ron Midyett, CEO of Apio. 'We cannot predict what the weather conditions will be during the balance of our fiscal year 2011 or how the conditions might impact Apio's value-added, fresh-cut vegetable business.'
However, Mr Steele noted that the group was still on course to meet existing revenue growth guidance of 12-15 per cent for the year.
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