Greenyard, the Sint-Katelijne, Belgium-headquartered vegetable and fruit producer and supplier, on February 26 released detailed figures on sales generated during the third quarter of 2018/19 and the latest nine-month period. Q3 revenues were down by 5.4% to €927.9 million, while receipts for the first three quarters fell 4.2% to €2,910.7 million.
The disappointing results were attributed largely to underperformance in the fresh sector related to volume decline and fierce competition in retail channels. The frozen segment faced a number of hurdles in addition to pricing, as outlined below.
Fresh sales in Q3 totaled €730.2 million versus €782.0 million (-6,6%) during the same period in the previous year. For the first nine months, receipts amounted to €2,378 million compared with € 2,489.3 million rung up in the first nine months of last year (-4,5%). Volume declines were registered in bananas, apples, grapes, pears, melons, stone fruit, bell peppers and tomatoes, while avocados posted a volume gain.
Pricing in general showed a negative trend across most of the categories. Specifically in Germany and Belgium, the negative volume trend persisted in Q3, combined with lower pricing.
Long Fresh sales (which includes Pinguin frozen, Noliko canned and prepared vegetable products) amounted to €197.8 million in Q3 versus €198.5 million for the same quarter during the previous year (-0,4%), with the first nine-month period ending at €532.7 million, compared with €547.8 million last year.
“The decline was therefore somewhat reversed from -4,1% in the first half of the year to -2,8% for the first nine months. The flat performance in Q3 can be explained by the non-realized price increases and some delayed orders of prepared products,” noted a prepared statement from Greenyard.
In the frozen segment, delays in certain sales ramp-up after the recall of potentially contaminated corn, peas, beans, spinach and sorrel products manufactured at the company’s plant in Baja, Hungary last summer, combined with a weaker private label performance in France, brought lower sales that were only partially offset by better price/mix.
Greenyard has confirmed its revised REBITDA forecast of €60 million to €65 million for AY 2018/19, and will communicate further details of its transformation plan and implementation actions by mid-March. Meanwhile, the company’s shares were trading at €3.50 on the Euronext Exchange at 5:05 PM on February 26, down by 4.63% from the previous day. The stock’s 52-week high was €19.06.
