Key Points:
- Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. (FDP) stock down nearly 4% following earnings report
- Net loss of $106.4 million in Q4, with adjusted earnings per share of 25 cents
- Sales fell 3% to $1.01 billion
- Quarterly dividend raised by 25% to 25 cents a share
Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. (FDP) saw its shares fall almost 4% to a three-month low in premarket trading on Monday, after the company failed to meet fourth-quarter earnings expectations. The fresh fruit and vegetable producer reported a net loss of $106.4 million, or $2.22 per share, compared to a net income of $18.3 million, or 38 cents per share, in the same period last year.
Despite higher prices for products like avocados and pineapples, lower banana sales led to the disappointing results. Excluding one-time charges, adjusted earnings per share came in at 25 cents, missing the average estimate of analysts.
Sales for the quarter dropped 3% to $1.01 billion, below expectations, with banana sales declining by 6% and fresh and value-added product sales slightly increasing by 1%.
In a separate development, the company decided to raise its quarterly dividend by 25%, now standing at 25 cents per share.
Despite the recent downturn in stock performance, the new dividend rate yields an impressive 4.18%, almost triple the S&P 500’s yield of 1.41%. As of now, Fresh Del Monte’s stock is down by 8.9% year-to-date, while the S&P 500 has gained 6.7%.
