High Liner, one of Canada’s largest seafood suppliers, on Wednesday reported its fourth-quarter results, including a 25.4 percent increase in sales to CAD 176.5 million.
The company’s adjusted EBITDA increased 28.8 percent to CAD 13.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2011, and net income jumped 18.2 percent to CAD 6.7 million.
The company completed its acquisition of the Icelandic Group’s U.S. and Asian operations during the fourth quarter, for a total price of CAD 232.7 million. As a result, the company posted a net loss of CAD 3 million in the fourth quarter of 2011, compared with a net gain of CAD 1.7 million in the corresponding quarter of 2010.
For all of 2011, High Liner’s sales increased 14.3 percent to CAD 668.6 million. The company completed its integration of Viking Seafood, adding CAD 37.5 million in sales. The Icelandic acquisition contributed CAD 9 million.
The company’s adjusted EBITDA increased 15.9 percent to CAD 54.7 million, but net income dropped to CAD 18.2 million from USD 20 million due to the acquisitions.
“Our Canadian operations saw unchanged sales volumes due to a challenging retail market but recorded a 4.1 percent increase in sales. We culminated the year with the important strategic Icelandic Seafood acquisition, which now makes us the category leader in food service value-added frozen seafood in North America,” said Henry Demone, High Liner president and CEO. “Icelandic Seafood is an established leader in the U.S. foodservice market, and we believe that the combination with High Liner will enable us to leverage a more efficient supply chain and stronger purchasing power to address a larger customer base. By strengthening our industry leadership position, we believe our strategy creates incremental value to our shareholders.”
