Boston, MA 05/15/2014 (wallstreetpr) – For John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBSS), 3Q2014 was a quarter that presented challenges and opportunities, but not in equal measures because at the end of the day the company had positive results to show for the three months duration.
Although the company had the last laugh in a challenging quarter, it experienced decline in sales volume mainly due to lack of enough supplies. Sales weakness in the quarter was most pronounced in the commercial export distribution channel. While sales to the processor market decreased, the weakness was offset by strong gain in the consumer market where sales volume increased almost 51 percent in the quarter.
3Q in numbers
After the ups and downs in the quarter, John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBSS) settled down with net sales of $174.3 million against $163.8 million for the same quarter of fiscal 2013.
In addition to the sales volume imbalance, in the quarter, the company benefited from strong prices that increase more than 8 percent per pound on a weighted average. The improvement in product prices drew support from the higher selling price for walnuts, almonds and mixed nuts.
The way forward
For John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBSS), the lessons learnt in 3Q inform the way forward. The company’s objective is to grow revenue by improving sales while keeping prices stable. Given that demand is no longer a problem as experienced in the most recent quarter, it means the company needs to work on its supplies.
In addition to having enough supplies to meet the volume demand, the company also has an opportunity of attracting higher revenue through expansion of market share. A wider market means that the company can gain support from one market when another is struggling.
As for the bottom-line, the company needs to improve focus on cost and expenses with the aim of achieving higher financial saving from operations.
All in all, 3Q was an insightful quarter for John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBSS) and building on the experiences gained and strengths achieved in the quarter should help the company position itself for future growth.
