SunOpta, a Canada-based organic, specialty and natural health products manufacturer, has reported a 357.4% increase in net earnings to $24.2m for the year ended 29 December 2012, compared to $5.29m in 2011.
The company posted 7% increase in net sales to $1.09bn, compared to $1.01bn in the previous year driven by growth within packaged food product categories, increased prices and higher volume of sales of raw grains in SunOpta Foods, as well as higher sales within Opta Minerals due to recent acquisitions.
SunOpta stated that these increases were partially offset by the effect of lower fiber and fruit ingredient sales and decreased revenues in the European organic ingredients business.
SunOpta chief executive officer Steve Bromley said while the results improved significantly in fiscal 2012, the company will continue to develop its global integrated natural and organic foods platform in support of established operating targets.
"We continue to execute on our core strategies focused on growing our value-added packaged foods and ingredients portfolio, and leveraging our integrated platform," Bromley added.
For the fourth quarter ended 29 December 2012, the company posted 12% increase in net revenues to $270.1m, compared to $242.3m for the same period in 2011 driven by driven by strong growth across integrated packaged food product categories within SunOpta Foods, particularly in the packaged aseptic non-dairy beverages and pouch products.
Net earnings for the quarter were $4.4m, compared to a loss of $7.6m for the fourth quarter of 2011. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) for the period increased 33% to $12.4m, compared to $9.3m for the corresponding period in 2011.
SunOpta specializes in sourcing, processing and packaging of natural and organic food products, integrated from seed through packaged products; with a focus on strategically vertically integrated business models.
