Leading fresh produce importer-marketer Fyffes expects its earnings to increase by €5m this year compared with 2008, thanks to favourable market conditions over recent months, particularly in Continental Europe.
In a statement released today (26 June), the Ireland-based company said that it was now targeting an Adjusted Earnings Before Interest and Tax for the full year 2009 in the range €16m-€20m, compared to €15.3m last year.
Despite only being halfway through the financial year and the negative affect of the fall in value of the dollar and the UK pound, Fyffes said it had achieved increases in average selling prices and had benefitted from the positive impact of its currency hedging.
The new earnings estimate also marks an increase from an earlier forecast, given by the company at the beginning of the year, that indicated that Fyffes was targeting adjusted earnings for 2009 in the range of €14m-€18m.
This target was based on achieving increases in average selling prices in all markets to offset the impact of cost inflation and less favourable exchange rates compared to last year.
Despite the improvement in the company’s performance in Continental Europe, Fyffes said that it was continuing to seek increases in selling prices across all markets to address the underlying increase in costs.
