US nut maker John B. Sanfilippo & Son today posted a jump in nine-month profits and hinted at the possibility of acquisitions in 2011.
For the first nine months of the year, the firm earned US$11.7m compared to a net income of $3m in the prior year.
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Net sales, however, dropped to $420.1m from $426.4m in the year-ago period due to lower price per pound in the first and second quarters due to price reductions driven by lower commodity costs.
Nonetheless, sales volume increased by 4.2%.
The firm said that it has increased investment in its Fisher brand during the period and renegotiated its loan agreements to allow it to pursue potential M&A opportunities in the coming year.
“We increased promotional spending by $1.3m to support new Fisher distribution that was secured in the latter part of the current quarter,” said Jeffrey Sanfilippo, CEO.
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By GlobalData“We also took steps to support our merger and acquisition growth strategy by amending our bank credit facility during the current quarter, which, among other related benefits, will allow us to use excess availability in our borrowing base to finance acquisitions.”
He added: “We invested a total of $2.1m during the current quarter to support our most important growth strategies in our strategic plan, and we anticipate that these investments should deliver a positive impact on our results in fiscal 2011.”
In the third quarter, Sanfilippo narrowed its net loss to $1.9m from $2.5m in the comparable quarter.
Net sales dropped slightly to $113.2m from $113.8m in the third quarter of 2009. The decline was due to a $1.3m increase in promotional spending to support new Fisher distribution.
