SunOpta Gains from Healthy Foods in the First Quarter
Canadian ingredient supplier SunOpta announced an adjusted revenues growth in the first quarter of 2019 increased by 6.2% compared with the first quarter of 2018.
However, the company records revenues of USD305.3m for the first quarter of 2019, compared to USD312.7m in the first quarter of 2018, a decrease of 2.4%.
“We delivered adjusted revenue growth of 6.2% during the first quarter of 2019, with strong commercial results across the healthy beverage, healthy snacks and international organic sourcing operations. On an adjusted basis, these businesses generated revenue growth versus prior year of 6.0%, 13.6% and 12.2% respectively in the quarter reflecting strong execution in on-trend categories,” said Joe Ennen, CEO at SunOpta.
He also added: “We have made progress on our fruit margin optimization plan and are on track with our automation investments to reduce production costs. We continue to expect the benefits of the first phase of our margin optimization plan to be realized by the fourth quarter of 2019. However, as anticipated, fruit margins continued to weigh on consolidated EBITDA margins during the first quarter, offsetting gains in the healthy beverage, healthy snacks and international organic sourcing operations. With a robust sales pipeline, strong positioning in on-trend, healthy food categories, and the right team to drive execution of our margin optimization plan, I am confident we can deliver improving results as the year progresses. In 2019, we remain focused on strengthening our product portfolio, accelerating customer-centric innovation, and improving profitability in frozen fruit through pricing and productivity, with the objective to create sustainable, long-term shareholder value.”
Furthermore, the Global Ingredients segment generated revenues of USD128m, a decrease of 6.1% compared to USD136.3m in the first quarter of 2018. The Consumer Products segment generated revenues of USD177.2m during the first quarter of 2019, an increase of 0.5% compared to USD176.3m in the first quarter of 2018.