B&G Foods saw net sales drop in Q3

Source: Food and Drink Digital

Date :10/31/2008 6:45:27 AM

B&G Foods Inc reported that net sales fell 0.4 percent in the third quarter to US$116.5 million primarily due to a poor maple syrup crop in Canada.

Price increases were implemented to improve net sales by US$4.7 million but these were offset by a decrease in net sales of US$5.2 million, the company said.

Unit volume decline was also attributable to a management decision to eliminate unprofitable sales to certain customers of private label pickles and peppers.

David L Wenner, President and CEO, said: “The third quarter was clearly a difficult quarter for our company, but as our fourth quarter 2008 and full year 2009 guidance implies, we believe an anomaly in our performance.”

He added that, as the business entered its fourth quarter, it has returned to an operating

level more consistent with expectations.

B&G projects that its fourth quarter EBITDA will be relatively flat, compared to its 2007 EBITDA of US$24.3 million. Full year 2008 EBITDA is expected to be in the range of US$90 million to US$91 million.