
Israel's Strauss Group has pointed to "macroeconomic events" in several of its businesses and markets that led to a fall in sales and profits for the first half of the year.
Strauss saw net income fall 20.6% to NIS13.3m (US3.4m). Operating profit fell 17.9% to NIS309m.
The firm said operating and net profit been impacted by a number of "specific events" including a recall of Sabra hummus in the US, the debt settlement with Mega Retail in Israel and an impairment provision in Serbia.
Net sales including the impact of foreign exchange fell 3.9% to NIS3.8bn. Organic sales growth excluding the effect of forex was 1.3%.
Strauss' international dips and spreads business enjoyed a 13.7% increase in sales in the first half. However, pressure in the coffee business and a 4.8% drop in sales from its Israel business impacted Strauss' top line overall.
"The group is implementing streamlining measures along the entire value chain, including production, supply chain and cost cutting at the corporate centre," said Gadi Lesin, president and CEO of Strauss.