Earthbound Farm Boosts WhiteWave in Q2 2014
DENVER, CO - WhiteWave Foods reported strong second quarter results thanks to its acquisition of Earthbound Farm late last year.
“Our second quarter 2014 results reflected strong operating performance all around,” said Kelly Haecker, WhiteWave Foods’ Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. “We delivered another quarter of robust topline growth, driven by strong organic growth in North America and Europe, as well as the addition of Earthbound Farm."
WhiteWave’s net sales for Q2 were $838 million. That number is a 36% increase from net sales of $616 million in the second quarter of 2013. Earthbound alone accounted for nearly 20% of WhiteWave’s increase.
WhiteWave's shares were up $3.16 to $32.84, a 10.65% increase, according to Yahoo Finance.
Earthbound Farm’s second quarter net sales totaled out at $153 million. These sales were driven by its packaged salad category, which grew by 2% reaching a total of 24%. Earthbound Farm is the leading share in the branded organic packaged salad category.
“We continued to experience strong growth across our businesses in the second quarter, with several of our platforms reporting record revenue,” said Gregg Engles, WhiteWave Farms’ Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “The increasing cost leverage as a result of our growth, along with the benefits we are starting to realize from the investments in our supply chain, led to strong operating margin expansion in the quarter. We are pleased with our performance and believe our innovative, on-trend and market leading brands will continue to fuel our growth, leading us to again increase our EPS guidance for the full year.”
Accounting for typical seasonality in Earthbound Farm’s business, WhiteWave expects to see net sales growth of approximately 30 percent, adjusted total operating income percentage growth rate in the low to mid-forties and diluted earnings per share between $0.98 and $1.00 in the third quarter of 2014.
For more information on WhiteWave Foods’ acquisition of Earthbound Farm, check out our previous article by clicking here.
