Leading US-based agribusiness Limoneira has announced a 49 per cent rise in revenue over the first quarter of 2014, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The company’s overall revenue for the quarter rose to US$25.9m, up on the US$17.4m it recorded over the corresponding period in 2013. Agribusiness revenue was US$24.7m, a significant increase on US$16.3m last year.
A rise in the average price per carton of lemons offset a slight decline in the volume of lemons sold, with earnings surpassing US$20.8m compared to US$14m in 2013.Quarter-on-quarter orange sales also improved from US$1.4m in 2013 to US$1.9m this year, while specialty citrus and other crop revenues rose US$1m to US$1.9m.
The impact of biannual cropping took its expected toll on avocado sales, with no significant revenue generated from this category over the quarter.
“We are pleased to report a solid start to fiscal year 2014,” Harold Edwards, president and chief executive officer of Limoneira, told the Wall Street Journal.“While our results reflect the anticipated seasonality of our agribusiness in the quarter, we achieved strong year-over-year revenue growth and operating results, primarily driven by higher lemon sales.”
Limoneira has forecast further revenue growth over the second quarter of 2014, following its acquisition of Lemons 400. For the fiscal year ending October 31, 2014, Limoneira expects to sell up to 3.3m of lemons and 2.7m kg of avocados. Both lemon and avocado prices are expected to be higher in 2014 than last year due to lower industry production volumes.
