Growth across all channels produced a strong third quarter for High Liner Foods of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. The company's sales reached CAD$149.4 million for the 13-week period ending Sept. 27, including growth of 72 percent in Canadian operations and almost 250 percent growth in U.S. operations.
The financial results, announced by the value-added frozen seafood company yesterday, reported a net income from continuing operations of CAD$5.4 million, an increase of CAD$3.6 million from the third quarter of 2007.
High Liner integrated the Canadian operations acquired from Fishery Products International in late 2007, which was completed during the quarter and integration of FPI's U.S. operations was completed after the end of the third quarter.
"Our strong third quarter earnings were driven by growth in all sales channels resulting from our strong brands and focused execution of our business plan," says Henry Demone, High Liner president and CEO.
"Of particular note, our U.S. foodservice business was the largest contributor to revenue for the quarter, our Canadian foodservice revenue more than doubled and our Fisher Boy® brand in the United States delivered solid growth and gained market share. Our profitability benefited from our larger scale and integrated operations. We strengthened our organization by completing the integration of our Canadian operations during the quarter and the integration of our U.S. operations subsequent to quarter end."
