Record third quarter for Premium Brands. Premium Brands Holdings Corporation, a leading producer, marketer and distributor of branded specialty food products, has announced its results for the third quarter of 2021.
Premium Brands owns a broad range of leading specialty food manufacturing and differentiated food distribution businesses with operations across Canada and the United States.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Record third quarter revenue of $1.3 billion representing a 21.9%, or $240.7 million, increase as compared to the third quarter of 2020
- Record third quarter adjusted EBITDA1 of $122.6 million representing a 31.1%, or $29.1 million, increase as compared to the third quarter of 2020
- Record third quarter adjusted EPS1 of $1.33 per share representing a 24.3%, or $0.26 per share increase as compared to the third quarter of 2020
- Clearwater Seafood, which is accounted for using the equity method, continued to generate significantly improved results posting quarterly sales and EBITDA of $158.4 million and $40.1 million, respectively, as compared to $133.7 million and $25.4 million, respectively in the third quarter of 2020
- The Company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.635 per share for the fourth quarter of 2021
- While conditions in many of the Company’s selling channels have returned to normal, its customers in the airline and cruise line channels, as well as in certain segments of the foodservice channel, continue to be impacted by pandemic related challenges
- Subsequent to the quarter, the Company completed the acquisitions of Maid-Rite Specialty Foods, a Pennsylvania based leading manufacturer of customised cooked and raw protein solutions for retail and foodservice customers across Canada and the U.S; and Westmorland Fisheries, a New Brunswick based leading processor, distributor and marketer of lobster products which it sells to retail, foodservice and distribution customers around the world
- Also, subsequent to the quarter, the Company increased its revolving senior credit facility by US$250.0 million to approximately $1.5 billion, extended the facility’s maturity date to November 1, 2026, and linked the interest rates associated with the facility to the Company’s performance relative to certain environmental and social objectives set by the Company
“Our third quarter results continue to demonstrate the balance and resiliency that we have built into our unique business model as we once again generated record sales and cash flows despite facing a barrage of widespread challenges including significant cost inflation, supply chain disruptions, and labour shortages,” said Mr. George Paleologou, President and CEO.
“We are pleased but not surprised, by how our entrepreneurial management teams adapted to these challenges with unique and innovative solutions that not only resulted in our strong results for the quarter but are positioning us to accelerate our performance when things start to normalise. We are particularly pleased with the results of our Seafood and Distribution platforms, which generated record sales and cash flows due in part to their preparedness for the surge in demand in the foodservice channel following the loosening of pandemic related restrictions in Canada and the U.S. “Our Seafood platform grew its sales for the quarter by 77% while generating organic growth of 32%. Clearwater Seafood, which is accounted for as an equity investment and not included in our Seafood platform results, also delivered very strong results with its sales and adjusted EBITDA for the quarter increasing by almost 19% and 58%, respectively,” added Mr. Paleologou.
“We are very pleased with how our seafood strategies are unfolding and how we are positioned in this very exciting segment of the food industry, which is benefiting from a number of long-term sustainable consumer trends. Our investments in product innovation, industry leading management teams and best-in-class operating assets, combined with our targeted acquisitions strategy, have positioned us well to be a global leader in seafood.
“Our Distribution platform grew its sales for the quarter by 23% while generating organic growth of 15%. This platform continues to strengthen its position as Canada’s leading specialty distributor of protein and seafood solutions to the foodservice industry and to increase its sales of differentiated protein and seafood products and solutions to retailers across Canada”, said Mr. Paleologou.
“We expect this platform to easily exceed $1 billion in sales next year, from less than $400 million just six years ago.
“We are also pleased to announce that subsequent to the quarter we completed the acquisitions of MaidRite Specialty Foods and Westmorland Fisheries. Both businesses are truly best-in-class in what they do and will perfectly complement our Protein and Seafood platforms, respectively. It is with great pleasure that I welcome their talented and entrepreneurial management teams into our ecosystem. We are very much looking forward to working with them to help take their businesses to the next level.”
“Over the last year we have made significant progress towards the targets we set three years ago of achieving $6 billion in sales and $600 million in EBITDA by 2023,” stated Mr. Paleologou.
“With the continued strengthening of the trends that have helped drive our success over the last decade, the investments in capacity that we have either recently completed or are underway, and our full pipeline of acquisition opportunities, we now expect to exceed these targets,” added Mr. Paleologou.