mail on sunday 10 Nov 2013 18:07
MIDAS SHARE TIPS: Undervalued banana supplier Fyffes is a bargain bunch - with a rising dividend to boot
By JOANNE HART, FINANCIAL MAIL ON SUNDAY
PUBLISHED: 22:21, 9 November 2013 | UPDATED: 08:59, 10 November 2013
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Bananas are the most popular fruit in the world and more than 100billion are consumed every year.
Fyffes is the leading supplier in Europe and ranks number four in America. At 69p, the shares do not reflect the company’s position, but chairman David McCann is determined to rectify this and the stock should benefit.
Fyffes has a colourful history dating back to 1880, when EW Fyffe Son & Co received the first commercial delivery of bananas from the Canary Islands.
Ripe: Fyffes has a history that stretches back to the 1880s
Ripe: Fyffes has a history that stretches back to the 1880s
Today the business has operations in Europe, the US and Central and South America, selling not just bananas but pineapples and melons, too.
The company sells more than four billion bananas a year in Europe, about half of which are consumed in the UK alone. It is the number one distributor of melons in the US and it ranks number three there and in Europe for pineapples.
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For many years a UK business, Fyffes was bought by an Irish food group in the 1980s, so it is now listed in Dublin and London and reports in euros. Pre-tax profits last year were €27million (£22.5million), this year they are expected to be €27.6million and in 2014 they are forecast at almost €30million.
Dividends, paid in pence to British shareholders, are forecast to rise from 1.7p for 2012 to 1.9p for the current year and 2.2p for 2014. Growth this year has been held back for four principal reasons.
First, most of Fyffes’ costs are in dollars but its sales are largely in euros and pounds, so it was affected when the US currency was strong earlier in the year.
Second, the group has historically bought most of its bananas from local farmers in Central and South America. Prices have been rising and Fyffes has been unable to pass on all its increased costs to customers.
Third, transport costs have been rising, and fourth, the long winter in Europe reduced consumer appetite for fresh fruit. Next year and beyond, however, the situation should be much improved.
Fyffes already produces all the melons it sells and about 60 per cent of its pineapples, but it is responsible for just 5 per cent of banana production. It is keen to increase that percentage, giving it greater control over the entire sales process.
Foreign exchange markets are also moving in Fyffes’ favour as the euro and sterling strengthen against the dollar. The company should benefit, too, as the economic situation improves in the UK and across Europe and household budgets gradually become less stretched.