Canadian natural ingredients company SunOpta saw a jump in operating income for its first quarter, in line with company expectations.
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Operating income for the period to 31 March increased 41.2% to US$5.4m compared to $3.8m in the same period for 2007.
Revenues in the first quarter increased by 25.6% to $230.4m from $183.5m in the first quarter last year.
Earnings for the quarter were $1.5m or $0.02 per diluted common share as compared to 2007 first quarter earnings of $1.05m or $0.02 per diluted common share.
The results include professional fees of around $1.4m related to the company’s investigation and related activities into the write-down at its SunOpta Fruit Group Berry Operations and the resulting delay in filing its 2007 annual report.
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By GlobalDataThe first-quarter results reflect “strong growth and operating earnings in the company’s core operations”, the company said.
Steve Bromley, president and CEO of SunOpta said: “These results are consistent with our expectations for the first quarter and based on this we reconfirm our preliminary annual revenue guidance for 2008 of in excess of $1bn and preliminary net earnings guidance in the range of $0.25 to $0.30 per diluted common share, before the impact of one-time professional fees and severance costs related to the independent investigation and related recommendations and legal costs to defend the class action lawsuits.”
Bromley was dismissed from SunOpta in April as part of the company’s ongoing audit investigation. He is expected to stay with the company until December.
