Prepared vegetables firm Bonduelle has reported a 1.2% decrease in revenue in the first quarter of its financial year, to €672.5 million, a performance it said was in line with expectations.
The company said that business activity was 'returning to normal' in the retail channel, while out-of-home was 'gradually recovering' in the quarter, which ran to 30 September.
It cited a weakening of the US dollar and Russian rouble against the Euro as having a negative effect on performance, however this was partly offset by a stronger Canadian dollar.
'This decline in activity, as expected, reflects the residual shortfall in products linked to poor crops in summer 2020, a recovery in out-of-home business activities coupled with a normalisation of the volumes sold in retail,' the company said.
First-quarter sales on a like-for-like basis were down 0.5%, it added.
Performance Of Core Segments
In its Europe Zone business, which represents just under half of group revenue, sales were up 1.7% on a reported basis and 1.8% in like-for-like terms, with the recovery of the out-of-home business leading to a stronger performance in its fresh food operating segment and 'significant growth' in frozen.
In its Non-Europe Zone business meanwhile, revenue was down 3.7% on a reported basis and 2.5% on a like-for-like basis, with North America seeing an out-of-home recovery, although the ready-to-eat fresh segment was down. In Eurasia, performance was 'solid', despite what the company said was a 'persistent difficult economic environment'.
Outlook For Coming Year
In terms of the outlook for the coming year, the group said that its Summer 2021 crop campaigns were impacted by severe weather conditions, including below-normal temperatures in France and heavy rainfall.
In addition, it added that the high level of cost inflation means that the company will re-evaluate its pricing strategy, a measure that will be necessary in order to achieve annual growth and profitability objectives.
In its most recent financial year, Bonduelle reported a like-for-like increase in sales across its business, however its Europe segment declined.
© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. For more A-Brands news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
