Camposol profits soared 65% in 2017 - FreshFruitPortal.com

Camposol profits soared 65% in 2017

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Camposol profits soared 65% in 2017

In its financial results today the Peruvian group also announced it had acquired land in Colombia to grow avocados.

Peruvian horticulture and aquaculture company Camposol saw a marked increase in EBTIDA last year to hit US$125.5 million, with avocado gross profit up 256% and blueberry earnings holding fairly steady despite a sharp uptick in volume.

In a year when the group launched a new berry brand and filed for an initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange, revenue was up by a third and profits rose higher still.

Avocado sales were up a whopping 128% at US$122 million but improved pricing meant profit almost quadrupled to US$70.1 million. Camposol attributed this result to two factors - fields entering high production and impacts from an El NiƱo event on the crop in the previous campaign.

These strong results meant avocados overtook Camposol's leading performer in 2016 - blueberries, which had a 25% uptick in volume and a 21% rise in sales, but lower prices and higher costs meant gross profit for the berry was actually down 6% at US$57.8 million.

Building on existing growing ventures and partnerships outside PerĆŗ, the company highlighted continued expansion through new sourcing opportunities.

"Camposolā€™s vision is to become the preferred global supplier of healthy, fresh and convenient food. In order to achieve this vision, Camposol will expand its existing agricultural operations in and outside of PerĆŗ," the group said.

"This will allow the company to extend its presence in the markets to other commercial windows.

"For this reason, during the last quarter of 2017, Camposol acquired land in Colombia for avocado planting."

The release did not detail the value of this Colombian land investment, and at the time of publication Camposol had not yet responded to requests for further information on the acquisition.

The group currently has 5,603 hectares of fruit crops planted in Peru of which a third is dedicated to blueberrries and almost half are for avocados.

The company's volume growth story looks set to continue as around one in every six hectares of plantings is less than a year old, while three categories - tangerines, table grapes and mangoes - had their biggest plantings yet within the 12 months to Dec. 31, 2017.

Headline photo: www.shutterstock.com

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