Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada-headquartered High Liner Foods, whose extensive product line ranges from battered and breaded fish fillets to scallops, shrimp, crab and lobster, reported record sales and earnings in fiscal 2013. Profits rose to $31.3 million for the 12-month period that ended on December 28, while total revenues increased by 0.5% to $947.3 million.
During the fourth quarter the supplier of value-added frozen seafood generated $250.7 million in sales, up by $32.5 million, or just shy of 15%, over $218.3 million rung up during the same period in 2012. Net income amounted to $8.7 million.
“The acquisition of American Pride [last October] bolstered sales in the fourth quarter and contributed to a strong finish to the year, which overall, has been a successful year, but hasn’t been without its challenges,” Henry Demone, chief executive officer, said on February 19.
“Excluding American Pride, sales in the fourth quarter from our US foodservice business and our US and Canadian retail value-added private label businesses declined on a year-over-year basis,” he continued. “This was consistent with what we experienced in the first three quarter of the year, reflecting continued soft sales in the US restaurant industry in 2013 and the trend in the seafood marketplace overall of decreased demand for retail value-added private label seafood products.”
High Liner Foods was successful in partially offsetting volume declines in these market segments with strong sales to club stores during the fourth quarter and continued growth in its retail Sea Cuisine product line in the United States.
Adjusted net income rose by $3.2 million, or 8.4%, to $41.3 million in fiscal year 2013. On an overall basis, seafood costs were lower last year compared to last 2012. Furthermore, interest costs on long term financing were significantly lower in fiscal 2013 than in 2012.
“The increase in earnings year-over-year also reflects synergies realized from completing the integration of Icelandic USA,” reported Demone. “However, the full impact of these synergies was partially offset by incremental operating and distribution costs incurred in the US after our plant in Danvers, Massachusetts was closed in the first quarter of 2013. Our facilities experienced production challenges as they worked to integrate products into their production lines that had been previously manufactured by the Danvers plant. Resolving these issues has been a top priority since the first quarter of 2013, and plant throughputs have been consistently improving.”
Meanwhile, High Liner Foods’ board of directors announced that a quarterly dividend of $0.19 will be paid per share on March 19, and that the company plans to make a two-for-one stock split later this year, pending approval from shareholders.
