Fresh Del Monte Produce will target new markets in Asia despite this morning announcing a slide in full-year earnings.
For the 12 months to 1 January, the company earned US$143.9m compared to $157.7m in 2008. Annual sales dropped slightly to $3.49bn from $3.53bn in the prior year.
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Net income for the fourth quarter dropped to $22.8m from $26.2m in the prior year due to lower gross profits and higher selling costs, partially offset by lower interest expense.
However, chairman and CEO Mohammad Abu-Ghazaleh told analysts that Fresh Del Monte Produce will look at its capital expenditure and choose opportunities “when they arise”.
“We will have to look at where we can locate our cash flow more efficiently. We do have some investments going into North America and the Middle East and before we can take further steps, we have to make sure we are doing the right thing,” Abu-Ghazaleh said.
The firm said it is expanding its market share and customer base in Asia “in general”.
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By GlobalData“We have new markets that we have not been in before in Asia, so there are many opportunities we want to fill there,” Abu-Ghazaleh said on the firm’s earnings conference call.
He said that bananas will be the first product line to be introduced to any new market in Asia.
“Banana of course is the pioneering number one. We do have a lot of other products like apples, citrus and potatoes that we don’t usually handle in Europe or North America, so the basis is the actually traditional items like banana and pineapples,” he said.
The firm said this morning that its primary objectives for 2010 are to continue expanding it core product lines, controlling costs, and maintaining its commitment to increase shareholder value over the long-term.
