US-based fresh produce group Chiquita Brands International has released its financial and operating results for the third quarter of 2011, reporting net sales of £451 million and a net loss of £18.1 million.
The multinational said it benefitted from favourable currency rates for bananas, but poor performance in the salad sector added to losses.
Although net sales in bananas increased by five per cent to £283 million during the quarter, salads and healthy snack sales dropped by five per cent to £150 million, including a comparable loss of £1.87.
The latter result contributed to an overall year-on-year fall in quarterly sales of one per cent to £451 million.
Fernando Aguirre, Chiquita chairman and chief executive officer, said: “Overall, our results continued to reflect the trends we have seen all year.
“Bananas in North America continued to perform well, Europe is starting to recover, and salads were disappointing but we've taken corrective action to reverse that trend.”
Aguirre said “as expected”, North America had delivered higher prices and volumes for bananas, while European market pricing was “soft”.
However, he said Chiquita’s results benefitted from “much more favourable” currency rates and higher core market volume.
He claimed the operating costs “did not yet reflect the full benefit of recent realignment decisions” and “were higher due to product supply related costs and inefficiencies”, much of which were expected to be temporary.
The company said the loss included nearly £7 million of refinancing costs, including tender and call premiums and unamortised financing fee write-offs, in connection with its July debt refinancing.
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