High Liner Foods experienced an increase in earnings for the second quarter as sales continued to lag, the company revealed in annual report on 16 August.
The company found that its EBITDA jumped by 40 percent to USD 17.7 million (EUR 15.7 million) in Q2, with exchange rate adjusted sales reaching USD 242.9 million (EUR 215.6 million). However, without adjustment, sales were found to have fell by 0.7 percent in Q2 for High Liner.
Net income for the quarter was USD 5.4 million (EUR 4.8 million), a 35 percent increase over what it was at the same time last year.
Further established during the second quarter was the sale of High Liner’s scallop business to U.S. seafood firm Blue Harvest Fisheries for USD 8 million (EUR 7 million). Per the deal, Blue Harvest now owns High Liner’s New Bedford, Massachusetts-based scallop facility and operations. Once the transaction is officially complete – the company expects it to be finalized in the next few weeks – High Liner will continue to sell scallops, but through a supply agreement with Blue Harvest.
"We have reached agreement with Blue Harvest Fisheries to sell our processing facility and scallop business located in New Bedford, Massachusetts. As part of this agreement, Blue Harvest will supply High Liner Foods with scallops so that we can continue to supply high-quality scallop products to our valued customers," confirmed Keith Decker, President and CEO of High Liner, in a prepared statement.
"We are pleased with the results of the second quarter of 2016, returning to sales volume growth and achieving higher Adjusted EBITDA as a result of improved execution and higher supply chain optimization savings compared to the second quarter last year. Also, free cash flow from operations continued to be strong, allowing us to reduce debt and further improve our debt leverage ratios," Decker said.
The High Liner transaction comes on the heels of Blue Harvest purchasing Hygrade Ocean Products’ New Bedford-based processing plant, announced last month.
