Fruit company thinks time is ripe for acquisitions

Fruit company Total Produce indicated that it plans further acquisitions, when it reiterated its guidance for the year.

The Fyffes-spin off confirmed its previously announced target for the full year of adjusted earnings per share in the range of 7 cent to 8 cent.

In its statement it also declared that it “continues to pursue attractive acquisition opportunities to further expand the group”. NCB Stockbrokers noted that the announcement was “encouraging”, adding that the group has about a €90 million “capacity for further acquisitions”.

Last year the company posted adjusted earnings per share of 7.24 cent, ahead of guidance. The company increased its pretax profits last year by 2.3 per cent to €34.4 million in 2011, despite the impact of the E.coli scare in Europe.

Earlier this month the chairman of Fyffes, David McCann, said a remerger with Total Produce was something that the company thought about “from time to time” but it was not currently on the agenda.

General produce and distribution business Total Produce demerged from Fyffes in 2006.

It is Europe’s largest fruit distributor, and has operations across central and eastern Europe and Scandinavia.