US fruit and vegetable producer Dole Food Company yesterday announced its operating profit grew 57 per cent in the second quarter thanks to increased sales of fresh vegetables and packaged salads.
The company said profit rose to US$33m (€25m) from US$21m (€16m) in the same period in 2009. Dole said it earned US$0.38 per share from continuing operations while revenues rose 2 per cent, to US$1.74bn (€1.3bn), in line with estimates.
The firm said the results were aided by increased sales of packaged salads, better sales of bananas and fresh pineapples in North America, higher kiwifruit and citrus sales across Asia and increased sales of Chilean deciduous fruit.
Banana sales across Europe and Asia were down, however, and the company last year sold its banana box manufacturing plants in Latin America, Bloomberg reported.
Fresh fruit sales remained steady at US$1.22bn (€923m) while fresh vegetable sales grew by 4 per cent to US$269m (€203m) and packaged food sales increased 6 per cent to US$249m (€188m).
'We are pleased to announce another strong quarter despite a challenging economic climate,' noted group president and CEO David DeLorenzo. 'Our packaged salads business realised higher volumes and pricing, as well as lower costs. Our packaged foods portfolio also performed well, with improved earnings, even with Easter sales falling in the first quarter of the year.
'Consumers continued to embrace our new product offerings, with the rollout of our Fruit Crisps and Real Fruit Bites exceeding distribution goals,' he added. 'Our fresh fruit operations improved over the first quarter, but continued to be negatively impacted by weak market conditions in Europe and Asia. We also reduced net debt by US$51m in the second quarter.'
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