SANTA PAULA, Calif., Dec. 20, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Calavo Growers, Inc. BB #:113203, a global avocado-industry leader and provider of value-added fresh food, today reported its financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended October 31, 2021.
Fourth Quarter Financial Overview
- Total revenue of $273.4 million, a 17% increase from the year-ago quarter.
- Fresh segment revenue increased 26% year-over-year to $149.8 million, and Renaissance Food Group (RFG) and Foods segments revenues increased 7% and 6% year-over-year, respectively.
- Gross profit of $9.1 million, or 3.3% of revenue, compared to $21.2 million, or 9.0% of revenue, for the year-ago quarter.
- Net loss of $(13.0) million, or $(0.73) per share, compared to net income of $6.2 million, or $0.35 per diluted share, for the same period last year.
- Adjusted net loss was $(1.4) million, or $(0.08) per share, compared to adjusted net income of $6.0 million, or $0.34 per diluted share last year.
- Adjusted EBITDA of $1.4 million compared to $13.4 million for the same period last year.
- Adjusted net income (loss) and adjusted EBITDA are non-GAAP financial measures. See “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” below.
Fiscal Year 2021 Financial Overview
- Total revenue of $1.1 billion, consistent with fiscal year 2020.
- Gross profit of $57.4 million, or 5.4% of revenue, compared to $89.9 million, or 8.5% of revenue, for fiscal year 2020.
- Net loss of $(11.8) million, or $(0.67) per share, compared to a net loss of $(13.6) million, or $(0.78) per share for fiscal year 2020.
- Adjusted net income of $6.2 million, or $0.35 per share, compared to adjusted net income of $27.6 million, or $1.57 per diluted share for fiscal year 2020.
- Adjusted EBITDA of $26.8 million, compared to $54.4 million for fiscal year 2020.
Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year Highlights
- Headway with Project Uno, a profit improvement project with initial focus on pricing initiatives, SKU rationalization, plant optimization and unified procurement, freight and back-office activities across all business units.
- Continued strengthening supply chain and adjusting for the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.
Appointed Mariela Matute to Chief Financial Officer role and Graciela Montgomery as first Chief Human Resources Officer. - Declared an annual cash dividend of $1.15 per share on common stock, consistent with the prior year’s annual dividend.
- Published the third annual sustainability report and undertook the first corporate carbon footprint measurement, providing a baseline to measure progress on Calavo’s journey to net-zero.
Management Commentary
“Early in the fourth quarter, we saw a continuation of the challenging market conditions we experienced in the third quarter including inflationary effects on labor, raw materials and freight,” said Steve Hollister, Interim CEO of Calavo Growers.
“We also continued to experience challenges with the avocado crop, including high fruit costs and less desirable sizes. As we moved through the quarter, market conditions improved, and we obtained price increases across customers and product lines. As a result, we experienced steady monthly improvement, and we finished the quarter delivering stronger financial results than at the beginning of the quarter.
“As part of Project Uno, we made the difficult decision to discontinue food processing operations at our RFG facility in Green Cove Springs (near Jacksonville), Florida. While we are continuing our Fresh operations at the facility, the closure will consolidate production into our Georgia facility and improve our capacity utilization.
“We also made progress toward unifying procurement, freight and back-office activities across our business segments. In addition, we completed the first round of SKU rationalization, eliminating approximately 5% of total SKUs. I am pleased with our progress to date and am optimistic that we will see improved profitability in 2022.
“I believe that by filling two key leadership roles with Mariela Matute as CFO and Graciela Montgomery as CHRO, we are well on our way to building a strong leadership team. We have made progress in our search for a permanent CEO, and we are in final rounds of interviews with several outstanding candidates. I am confident we will be selecting a new CEO soon who will lead Calavo’s growth for years to come.”
