Clearwater reports first quarter 2020 results.
- First quarter sales and adjusted EBITDA1 were $100.3 million and $13.0 million respectively versus $120.1 million and $20.0 million in the prior year, largely due to the impact of COVID-19, primarily in Asia.
- Gross margin and adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of sales were 16.1% and 13.0% respectively in 2020 compared to 17.9% and 16.7% in 2019.
- Leverage1 decreased to 4.6x compared to 4.7x in the first quarter of 2019.
- Return on assets1 increased to 8.8% in 2020 compared to 7.7% in 2019.
- To support liquidity during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Board of Directors have temporarily suspended dividends and Clearwater successfully closed an amendment to its senior secured credit facility on May 13, 2020.
- The Company is moving forward with the formal strategic process to identify, review and evaluate a broad range of potential strategic alternatives.
First Quarter Results
“I am truly proud, humbled by and grateful to our Clearwater employees who are leading with courage, integrity, responsibility and with their hearts. Through our Clearwater Cares programme our employees are helping their neighbors and supporting frontline healthcare, emergency service providers and food banks in their communities. They are doing this on their own time and while working tirelessly to support a safe and reliable global food supply under extraordinary conditions” said Ian Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Clearwater. “We started 2020 with great momentum but, unfortunately, Clearwater was directly impacted in the first quarter as our Chinese customers faced the brunt of COVID-19 just before the start of Chinese New Year festivities. By early March, the impact of the global pandemic was being felt in all our markets across the globe with tragic human and challenging economic consequences. As a company, we took immediate and effective action to ensure the health and safety of our employees in our plants, offices and vessels by implementing stringent health and safety protocols. We moved quickly to align our operations to the rapidly changing market conditions while safeguarding our ability to harvest, process and reliably deliver food safely to our customers around the world. Concurrently, we cut all non-essential spending and capital expenditures to preserve cash for the remainder of the year and successfully secured an amendment to our credit facilities. We have taken these necessary steps with focus and discipline and are now well-positioned to weather the current economic conditions and take advantage of future growth opportunities as global seafood demand recovers.”