LONDON (Alliance News) - Irish banana company Fyffes PLC, which spent a large chunk of 2014 in an ultimately failed bid to merge with US rival Chiquita Brands International Inc, on Friday said its pretax profit pushed higher in 2014 on the back of better revenue.
The company said its pretax profit for the year was up to EUR38.2 million from EUR28.7 million a year earlier, as its total revenue growth in the year outpaced costs.
Total revenue, including Fyffes' share from joint ventures rose to EUR1.09 billion in 2014, up from EUR1.08 billion a year earlier. Group revenue, excluding joint ventures, rose to EUR852.6 million from EUR835.8 million, outpacing a rise in costs to EUR748.4 million from EUR741.2 million in 2013.
Fyffes said it saw low single-digit price deflation during the year, which was somewhat offest by the benefits from an average 4% depreciation of the US dollar against the euro and sterling.
Overall banana volumes rose marginally year-on-year and the group saw a rise in fruit costs over the year, though this was offset by lower shipping and other import costs.
The company hiked its final dividend for the year to 2.387 euro cents per share from 2.17 cents a year earlier, up 10%.
Fyffes spent a large portion of 2014 trying to complete an agreed merger with Chiquita Brands, but Chiquita's shareholder eventually voted for a rival takeover offer for Chiquita from Brazilian companies Cutrale Group and Safra Group in October. On a positive note, the company walked away imbroglio with a USD20 million termination fee.
"Fyffes is pursuing necessary increases in selling prices in all markets in response to the significant strengthening of the US dollar against the euro and sterling in recent months. The group is focused on continuing to grow the business and is actively pursuing a promising number of attractive acquisition opportunities," said Fyffes Chairman David McCann.
Shares in Fyffes were down 2.8% to 89.94 pence in London on Friday morning.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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