Premium Brands Holdings Corporation posted increases in its earnings and revenue in Q4 2024, capping off a record-breaking FY 2024.
Premium Brands posted revenue of CAD 1.64 billion (USD 1.14 billion, EUR 1.06 billion) in Q4 2024, a CAD 84.4 million (USD 59 million, EUR 54.6 million), or 5.4 percent, increase over Q4 2023. Its adjusted EBITDA in the same period also increased, hitting a record of CAD 148.7 million (USD 103.9 million, EUR 96.2 million) and an increase of CAD 11.5 million (USD 8 million, EUR 7.4 million), or 8.4 percent, over Q4 2023.
“2024 finished on a strong note driven by our Protein and Bakery Groups’ U.S. sales initiatives, which generated approximately CAD 50 million [USD 35 million, EUR 32 million] in sales volume growth in the quarter,” Premium Brands President and CEO George Paleologou said in a release.
The record fourth quarter capped off a record FY 2024 for the company.
According to its earnings report, Premium Brands posted CAD 6.47 billion (USD 4.5 billion EUR 4.2 billion) in revenue in FY 2024, an increase of CAD 209.5 million (USD 146.5 million, EUR 135.6 million), or 3.3 percent, over FY 2023. Its adjusted EBITDA also hit record levels, reaching CAD 593.7 million (USD 415.2 million, EUR 384.3 million), a CAD 34.6 million (USD 24.2 million, EUR 22.4 million), or 6.2 percent, increase over FY 2023.
The record numbers in Q4 2024 and for FY 2024 were reported as the company – which is based in Canada – prepares to grapple with a potential trade war between the U.S. and Canada. Paleologou said despite its location and cross-border ties, the company expects its long-term strategies will benefit it amid the uncertainty.
“We are pleased to report that our strategic focus on generally manufacturing in the jurisdictions that we sell has positioned us relatively well to manage any tariff headwinds,” Paleologou said. “Some of our businesses do ship products across borders; however, we are confident that we will be able to largely mitigate the impact of tariffs on these sales.”
Paleologou said the company’s specialty foods segment has a network of production facilities across both Canada and the U.S., and in the event of escalating tariffs, it can shift production so products being produced in facilities are sold in the same country to avoid crossing borders and cost increases.
“In terms of our Premium Foods Distribution segment, processed lobster is the primary product crossing a border; however, this is produced from a scarce resource, and as a result, customers have very limited supply options,” Paleologou said. “Furthermore, our Premium Food Distribution segment has major lobster-processing operations in both Canada and the U.S.”
One of Premium Brands’ major seafood holdings, Clearwater Seafoods, continued to post losses in both Q4 2024 and FY 2024.
In Q4 2024, Clearwater posted CAD 152.8 million (USD 106.8 million, EUR 98.9 million) in revenue, down from the CAD 168.1 million (USD 117.5 million, EUR 108.8 million) it posted in the same period of 2023. Its net loss for the quarter increased to CAD 19.3 million (USD 13.5 million, EUR 12.5 million).
For FY 2024, Clearwater hit CAD 576.7 million (USD 403.3 million, EUR 373.3 million) in revenue, a slight drop rom the CAD 580.1 million (USD 405.7 million, EUR 375.5 million) it posted in FY 2023. While its revenue was close to 2023, its losses widened significantly from CAD 48.1 million (USD 33.6 million, EUR 31.1 million) in 2023 to CAD 82.1 million (USD 57.4 million, EUR 53.1 million) – or a 70 percent increase in its losses.
Premium Brands said the decrease in its revenue was primarily due to poor catch rates of its core Canadian species – scallops.
Clearwater Seafood is reportedly exiting the live lobster business in Nova Scotia, CBC reported. The company shut down a holding plant and eliminated a lobster-processing line at a facility in southwestern Nova Scotia and said it intends to focus its efforts on processing and freezing shellfish and other seafood on ships at sea.
Outside of Clearwater, Premium Brands' acquisition pipeline for seafood companies continues to be relatively slow. The company said it is in active negotiations for two seafood companies with combined sales of just CAD 6 million (USD 4.2 million, EUR 3.8 million). That’s down from its Q3 2024 results, which said it was in active negotiations with two companies with combined sales of CAD 325 million (USD 227 million, EUR 210 million).
While Premium Brands did acquire multiple businesses in the quarter – NSP Quality Meats, Casa Di Bertacchi, Italia Salami, and Denmark Sausage – none of them were related to seafood.
Looking into 2025, Paleologou said the company is generating solid momentum.
“We expect 2025 to be a major inflection point for our Company and are very well positioned to meet or exceed our 2027 sales and adjusted EBITDA targets of CAD 10 billion [USD 6.9 billion, EUR 6.4 billion] and CAD 1 billion [USD 699 million, EUR 647 million], respectively,” he said.
