High banana prices push Fyffes profits up 28%
Fruit distributor Fyffes has reported a 27.9% increase in pre-tax profits for the year to the end of December 2005 thanks to high banana prices.
The company said trading in 2006 so far had been in line with expectations.
Pre-tax profits rose to €105.8m last year from €82.7m in 2004 while revenues rose by 11.3% to €2.2bn from €1.9bn the previous year.
Adjusted to exclude amortisation and separately disclosable items, fully diluted earnings per share (EPS) rose to 25.23 cent from 20.14 cent in 2004 - a gain of 25%. Basic earnings per share climbed 28.2% to 23.79 cent.
Commenting on the results Carl McCann chairman said: “Fyffes has delivered excellent results in 2005, helped by very favourable market conditions in continental Europe. Reflecting this strong performance, the group has today paid the special dividend of €20m announced in December.
"Trading to date in 2006 has been broadly in line with the group’s expectations, taking into account the impact of the previously announced increase in costs arising, in particular, from the change in banana import regulations."
