Canadian soup-to-sauces maker Lassonde Industries has booked a 20% rise in third-quarter profits but that was not enough to prevent a warning over competition from its chief executive.
Lassonde, which also makes pasta sauces, gravy and corn-on-the cob, posted third-quarter net income of C$8.8m (US$8.7m) for the three months to 2 October, up 20.7% from a year earlier.
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Operating income climbed 19.2% as sales rose 7.2% to C$136.7m. Lassonde said higher sales of its national brands and its private-label lines, plus lower product costs, boosted operating income.
However, Pierre-Paul Lassonde said: “We are satisfied with the third quarter results but competitive pressures are not subsiding.”
The group noted an increase in trade spending across the categories in which it operates as competition mounted, although it added: “The company remains confident about its ability to maintain its 2010 net sales at a level slightly higher than that experienced in fiscal 2009.
