Calavo harvests record fiscal results

Calavo Growers Inc. reported record fourth quarter fiscal 2008 operating results, with net income soaring 235 percent to the highest single-quarter-period total in the company’s history on a 10 percent expansion in revenues. The company, a provider of fresh perishable produce items, disclosed that full-year operating results also reached historic highs.

For the three months ended October 31, 2008, net income increased to $4.0 million, equal to from $1.2 million in the corresponding period a year earlier. Final-period 2008 revenues totaled $93.6 million, which compares with $85.3 million in net sales in 2007’s fourth quarter. Gross profit in this year’s fourth quarter rose to a record $12.2 million, advancing 72 percent from $7.1 million in the similar fiscal 2007 period.

Full-year net income climbed five percent to a record $7.7 million from $7.3 million in fiscal 2007. Fiscal 2008 revenues registered $361.5 million, rising 19 percent from $303.0 million in the previous year, which was formerly the sales record. Gross margin reached $33.2 million in the most recent year from $31.8 million in fiscal 2007.