Keith Decker, former president and chief operating officer of High Liner Foods, assumed the role of chief executive officer in addition to his ongoing responsibility as president on May 12. He replaced Henry Demone, who had been at the helm as ceo since 1992 and now serves as chairman of the board of directors.
Decker has also taken a seat as a board member. Former Chairman David Hennigar, who owns 37.5% of the value-added frozen seafood producer’s common shares, will now serve as the board’s lead director and vice chairman.
Keith Decker is now chief executive officer as well as president of High Liner Foods and a member of the company’s board of directors.Decker’s succession has been well planned, as Demone incrementally handed responsibilities over to him for some time before the promotion. Having held positions as the company’s president and coo since September of 2013, the new chief executive was president and coo of US operations prior to that.
Meanwhile, the Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada-headquartered company reported that sales for the 13-week period ending on April 4increased by $7.6 million, or 2.5%, to $326.9 million, compared to $310.2 rung up during the first quarter of 2014. Adjusted EBITA rose by $3.4 million, or 12.6%, to $30.7 million, and net income advanced by $0.6 million, or 5%, to $12.5 million.
“We are satisfied with the company’s performance…and in particular with the increases in adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income compared to the first quarter of last year,” stated Demone. “Our latest acquisition, Atlantic Trading, bolstered sales and partially offset the impact of volume declines in other areas of our business. A weaker Canadian dollar year-over-year continues to negatively impact the results reported by our Canadian business, both in terms of its impact on the translation of these operations from CAD to USD and its impact on the cost of raw materials, which are largely purchased in US dollars.”
He added: “Our supply chain optimization initiatives continued to progress as expected throughout the first quarter, with the exception of a few areas where activities have been slightly delayed. While the first quarter’s results only reflect nominal cost savings associated with these initiatives, we announced plans in early January to cease operations at our leased Malden (Massachusetts) facility, which is expected to reduce annual operating costs, and increase annual EBITDA by $3.0 million. Operations at this facility ceased as planned in early April.”
Looking ahead, High Liner Foods’ strategic goal to optimize its supply chain continues to be a top priority for the organization.
“While delays were experienced in the first quarter in certain areas, our overall expectation to achieve $20 to $25 million in annual cost savings related to this goal by the end of 2016 has not changed,” commented Demone.
The new chairman concluded: “Organic growth in our business remained challenging in the first quarter of 2015, and we continue to believe that focusing efforts on the development of innovative product offerings is key to driving organic growth across our business. Over the last year, we have experienced significant increases in raw material costs on certain species, and while we have passed a significant portion of these increases on to our customers, these higher prices may impact sales volume in the near term.”
