Chiquita Brands International has announced its financial report for the opening quarter of the year, with net income coming in at US$2m (€1.5m), up from a loss of US$11m (€8.4m) in the same period of 2012.
The result was achieved despite a drop in year-on-year net sales, dropping to US$774m from US$793m, the result of lower revenues in both the bananas and other produce categories.
'We continue to execute against our previously announced restructuring plans and strategy to focus on our core products,' said Ed Lonergan, Chiquita's president and chief executive officer. 'We are pleased that our first quarter results reflect the initial benefits from these strategic decisions and actions.
For bananas, comparable net sales slipped 3 per cent to US$505m, primarily die to reduced volumes in Europe and lower prices in North America – although Improvements in sourcing and logistics cost related to the company's supply chain restructuring 'more than offset' the decrease in sales', the group noted.
Sales climbed 1 per cent in the salad and healthy snacks segment, up to US$240m.
'Performance in our core businesses continues to improve,' Lonergan continued. 'In both our North American bananas business and our salad business, we have responsibly increased segment shares with new contracts and through improved velocity with existing customers.
'In Europe, we have continued to prioritise profitable contracts and have shed arrangements that did not meet our profit targets. We also continue to focus on improving productivity and remaining disciplined in our value chain and overhead spending,' he added. 'With the recently announced addition of Rick Frier to our management team, we believe that we have the pieces in place to execute our strategy and achieve our long-term financial goals.'
Looking ahead, Chiquita said that it was already seeing 'tangible progress' from its restructuring initiatives, while warning that there remained 'important risks and opportunities' this year, such as banana contract and private label salad wins, continued restructuring and consolidation.
