Boston, MA 09/29/2014 (wallstreetpr) – Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:DMND) announced the result of fiscal 2014 (FY2014) ended July 31, 2014. The Company reported net sales of $$865.2 million with adjusted (non-GAAP) EPS of $0.64. Gross margin during the period was 24.1% with adjusted EBITDA of $105.1 million.
Diamond Foods’ CEO Brian J. Driscoll said that the Company achieved growth in Snacks segment with increasing market shares and partly offset the Nuts sales, which affected as a result of increasing tree nut costs and higher logistics cost.
Highlights
In FY2014, net sales were marginally up (+0.1%) to $865.2 million from $864.0 million in FY2013 due to an increase in Snacks sales, which partly offset the declining performance of Nuts segment.
Snacks segment revenue increased by 8.2% to $473.7 million (FY2013: $438 million), and gross margin for the segment increased by 90 bps to 35.6% compared to the same period 2013.
In contrast, Nuts segment revenues were down by 8.1% to $391.5 million (FY2013: $426 million) and consequently, the segment gross margin declined significantly by 240 bps to 10.1% versus FY2013.
Gross margin improved to 24.1% from 23.8% in the same period last year. The marginal improvement was due to increased gross margin of Snacks. The declining sales and gross margin of Nuts segment impacted the overall adjusted EBITDA for the period to a level of $105.1 million versus $101.7 million in FY2013.
In addition, certain one-time charges affected the bottom-line significantly to a net loss of $164.7 million. So, excluding the exceptional costs, Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:DMND) recorded adjusted net income of $19.5 million or $0.64 per share compared to adjusted net income of $13 million or $0.54 per share in FY2013.
As of July 31, 2014, Diamond Foods’ net debt was $642.1 million
Business outlook
Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:DMND) expects positive growth in both the segment in coming periods with productivity range of 2-3% and cost inflation of 3-4%. Accordingly, the Company anticipates adjusted EBITDA of $115 – $123 million and adjusted EPS of $0.90 – $1.10 in FY2015.
