US fruit and veg group Fresh Del Monte Produce posted a 33% drop in fourth quarter profit hurt by one-time charges and lower sales in its prepared food business segment.
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For the quarter ended 26 December net income fell to US$22.9m from $34.4m a year earlier.
The company’s charges relate to asset impairment and clean up charges as a result of extensive flooding in the company’s banana operations in Costa Rica.
“Despite the difficult environment, we remained focused on the fundamentals that are critical to our success; prudently managing costs while investing in profitable core products and emerging markets that we believe will generate attractive returns for our shareholders over the long-term,” said Mohammad Abu-Ghazaleh, chairman and CEO.
Quarterly sales dropped 2% to $831m from $848.2m in the fourth quarter of 2007.
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By GlobalDataNet sales in the company’s banana division for the quarter increased 18% to $365.8m during the quarter boosted by increased selling prices in its North America, Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions.
The company’s prepared foods division saw net sales decrease 29% to $93.6m for the fourth quarter.
For the full year, the company reported net income of $157.7m on net sales of $3.5bn. That was down from net income of $179.8m on net sales of $3.4bn in the previous year.
