Dole Food Company has announced that net income fell 91 per cent through the first quarter of 2011, down to US$2m (€1.4m) from US$23m (€15.5m) last year, impacted by the refinancing of the company's yen-cross currency swap.
Excluding unrealised losses from the currency swap, comparable income from continuing operations came in at US$45m (€30.4m), or US$0.51 per share, compared with the US$15m (€10.1m), or US$0.17 per share, recorded in the same period of 2010.
Net revenue for the period ended 26 March came to US$1.7bn (€1.15bn), up 5 per cent from US$1.61bn (€1.09) last year, boosted by growth in all three operating segments as a result of higher prices.
Fresh fruit revenues benefited from higher sales of bananas in North America and Asia and higher volumes sold of Chilean deciduous fruit, partially offset by planned lower volumes of bananas sold in Europe.
Fresh vegetables revenues, meanwhile, increased from improved pricing across all major product lines as well as higher volumes sold of packaged salads.
Packaged foods revenues increased primarily due to higher volumes sold in Asia and Europe and improved pricing in North America, partially offset by lower volumes sold in North America due to the timing of Easter in 2011.
'We are very pleased with the improvements in our first quarter financial results as each of our operating segments reported higher revenues and we generated a 25 per cent increase in adjusted EBITDA compared to last year,' said David DeLorenzo, president and CEO at Dole. 'Our fresh fruit segment realised a turnaround on two fronts – better market conditions in Europe and Asia, and an improved cost position in our European operations due to our restructuring plan.
'Our packaged foods and fresh vegetable operations continued to have strong performances, with some of the packaged food earnings growth offset with investment in our new product introductions,' he noted. 'In line with expectations, the packaged food segment results were softer than in 2010 due to increased market spending to support the launch of our Fruit Bowls in 100 per cent juice in the first quarter as well as a shift of Easter sales to the second quarter this year.
'Looking forward, we remain optimistic about achieving significantly improved results in 2011 over 2010,' Mr DeLorenzo added.
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