High Liner Foods is satisfied with the company's second quarter results. "Q2 2022 was another strong quarter", said President and CEO, Rod Hepponstall. The North American value-added frozen seafood company increased its sales by $115.0 million (€111.32 million), an increase of 26.5%. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) increased by 13.3% to $6.3 million (€6.09 million). Most of the profit came from its food service business.
"Our products continue to be in high demand, our team is executing well, and the reliability of our diverse global supply chain continues to differentiate us in the market", said Rod Hepponstall, President and CEO of High Liner Foods. "This solid performance drove year over year increases in volume and sales and adjusted EBITDA, putting us on track to deliver another year of adjusted EBITDA growth".
"Our ability to perform well in a supply constrained inflationary environment underscores the strong underlying fundamentals of our business and potential for further growth as market conditions stabilize", he continued. "We remain focused on efficiencies, innovation, and optimization across the portfolio. We are confident that this is the path to continue to drive profitability and advance our leadership position in branded, value-added seafood in North America".
The value-added frozen seafood company has seen overall sales and volumes in the company's retail and foodservice businesses increase year over year. This has resulted in the majority of profits coming from the food service business. So, as they expected, the full reopening of their institutional and hospitality customers, combined with continued pent-up consumer demand for dining out during the spring months, generated strong demand for their products. "This quarter demonstrated that our longstanding efforts to ensure that we were well positioned for the full reopening of foodservice are paying off", Hepponstall stated, "our customers appreciate the versatility of our offerings, reliability of supply and the value we deliver".
The President and CEO of High Liner Foods continued: "We are encouraged that as consumers enjoyed dining on seafood outside of the home, our retail business remained strong and grew sales and volume compared to the same time last year". Despite the current economic situation, Rod Hepponstall is optimistic about the future. "While we have yet to see a major shift in consumer behaviour because of the inflationary environment, we are well positioned to continue to benefit at different price points across our portfolio", he said.
Despite the strong results, like most of the industry, High Liner Foods is also experiencing shipment delays and raw material supply issues. According to the announcement, this affected the company's ability to maximize overall sales volume by an estimated 4 million pounds (1814 tons) or 6.8% during the quarter. However, by taking several steps to mitigate these supply challenges, it has been able to reduce the impact on its performance and customers.
Also during the quarter, the company continued to take steps to counteract the impact of the inflationary environment, including measured pricing measures. It ensures that it will carefully monitor and manage these issues going forward. These pricing actions and higher volume due to increased demand resulted in a 33.6% increase in Q2 net sales compared to the prior year. In addition, although many COVID-19 restrictions have been removed in North America, High Liner Foods continues to take "prudent and proactive measures" to protect the health and safety of its employees and mitigate disruption to the company's supply chain and operations.
High Liner Foods is a leading North American processor and marketer of value-added frozen seafood. Their retail branded products are sold throughout the United States and Canada under different labels available in most grocery and club stores (High Liner, Fisher Boy, Mirabel, Sea Cuisine, and Catch of the Day). They also sell branded products to restaurants and institutions under the High Liner, Icelandic Seafood, Mirabel, and FPI labels, and are a major supplier of private-label, value-added frozen seafood products to North American food retailers and foodservice distributors. The company is recognized as a global leader in driving best practice improvements in wild fisheries and aquaculture.
*Cover photo: High Liner food service, courtesy of High Liner Foods.
