Iceland-based food group Alfesca has blamed a slowdown in consumer spending for falling second-quarter sales.
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The company said sales for the three months to the end of December fell 3.4% to EUR249.3m (US$322.2m). On a pro forma basis, sales were down 1.9%.
Alfesca, which sells a range of fish, foie gras and duck products, said sales of prawns and shellfish fell 3%.
Sales of foie gras and duck dropped 3.2%, while sales of blinis and spreadables decreased by 4.7%.
Alfesca said sales of natural salmon in the UK soared by 25%, although the weakness of sterling hit sales in the country by EUR8.1m.
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By GlobalDataChief executive Xavier Govare said the “severe” economic downturn in Europe had hit spending.
“This performance was delivered following a weaker than expected sales over October and November but compensated in part by strong sales in December, indicating that consumers delayed their expenditure in the run up to the festive period,” Govare said,.
“We expect the challenging economic conditions to continue for the foreseeable future and therefore to affect our third- and fourth-quarter results.”
