Canned-vegetable producer Bonduelle has posted a 1% like-for-like sales decline of €1.406 billion in the first half of its financial year.
The firm’s European business posted a 1.6% like-for-like increase in revenue, to €642.3 million, however, its non-European operations posted a 3.1% decline, to €74.4 million.
In terms of the second quarter, specifically, Europe was up 2.4% on a like-for-like basis, while non-European operations went down by 3.6%.
The group’s canned (+1.5% on a like-for-like basis) and frozen (+3.6%) arms posted a stronger first half of the year, however, the business’s fresh processed division saw a 5.7% decline.
Solid Growth In Canned
‘Following a difficult start for this FY, the canned and frozen operating segments recorded a strong, solid growth over Q2,’ the company noted.
‘By contrast, following a first quarter boosted by favourable weather conditions, the fresh processed and fresh ready-to-eat operating segment recorded, over Q2, a limited growth that was partially impacted by the demonstrations that took place in France,’ it added.
Bonduelle's non-European business, meanwhile, was impacted by ‘temporary time lags in the completion of some sales contracts with canned- and frozen-food manufacturers’ in its North American business, as well as the discontinuation of some fresh-fruit and packaged-salad SKUs in the period.
In terms of the remainder of the year, Bonduelle reported that it is anticipating ‘limited growth’ in revenue at constant exchange rates, mainly fuelled by acquisitions, as well as its recent acquisition of a frozen facility in Lebanon, US.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
