Dole Food Company has decided it needs more operating flexibility and plans to refinance its current senior secured credit facilities.
To finance current operations Dole uses short-term loans that have to be repaid between one and three months later.
The company, based in Westlake, CA, will use proceeds from a long-term refinancing, which includes US$900m in seven-year loans and a US$350m 'multi-currency asset-based' revolving facility, to repay its short-term creditors.
Global banana prices are recovering, but Dole's recent results have been mixed: a US$2m net income from the first quarter of 2011 was well down on a figure of US$22m from the same period of 2010, but an improvement on a combined net loss figure of US$89m from the final two quarters of last year.
The latest update says Dole's better Q1 performance will carry on into Q2, when revenue and EBITDA are expected to beat 2010 figures.
The year-on-year improvements are driven by the fresh fruit sector, where higher prices and the company's European restructuring are having positive effects.
Revenues from fresh vegetables and packaged foods are likely to be in line with 2010 performance.
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