Australia-listed Halo Food puts entire business up for strategic review
The review has been widened from The Healthy Mummy brand and subsidiary to all company operations.
Australia-listed Halo Food has extended a strategic review to encompass all of the New Zealand-headquartered company’s business units and factories.
Trading as milk powder manufacturer Keytone Dairy until 2021, Halo Food has expanded through M&A and has now hired Modus Partners to conduct a review of its operations.
“The strategic review will consider all options available, for either individual business units or the company as a whole, including divestment, other M&A and/or partnership opportunities, in order to maximise shareholder value,” Halo Food said in a filing with the Australian Securities Exchange.
The Healthy Mummy subsidiary, which produces nutrition weight-loss products such as smoothies, meals and snacks, was initially put up for review in March before the current extension.
“The board has formed an opinion that the value of the underlying businesses units may be worth substantially more than the implied values based on the current listed market value of the company,” it said.
There was an executive change at the business last year, with Jourdan Thompson elevated to CEO to replace Danny Rotman, who announced his resignation in October. Halo Food’s shares closed at A$0.012 today (9 May).
Other brands in the portfolio include Tonik protein bars and shakes supplied to the Australian market and Gran’s Fudge. Halo Food owns the former Omniblend business, an Australian manufacturer of milk powders and UHT dairy drinks acquired in 2019.
Christchurch-based Halo Food is also a contract manufacturer for brands in Australia and New Zealand. It also provides private label. Customers include retailers Woolworths and Coles.
Halo Food has three manufacturing facilities in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, and another in Christchurch, New Zealand.
For the fiscal year to 31 March, Halo Food generated preliminary revenue of A$83.9m ($56.6m), up 40% on the previous 12 months. Contract manufacturing in Australia accounted for A$53.7m, the New Zealand dairy business A$12.7m and branded sales amounted to A$3.6m. Final results are due to be issued in May.
In the previous financial year, sales were A$59.9m, an increase of 18%. EBITDA turned to a A$2.3m profit from a A$2.3m loss in the prior year.
Tyson Foods bullish on brands amid disappointing results
Worse-than-expected quarterly results led to Tyson Foods lowering its forecast for full-year sales.
Tyson Foods’ brands are central to the US meat giant’s growth prospects, the company’s management has argued, after a cut to the company’s sales forecast hit its share price.
The Jimmy Dean and Hillshire Farm brands owner lowered its full-year sales forecast yesterday (8 May) as it posted second-quarter financial results that included a loss of $91m.
Tyson Foods is now expecting full-year sales of $53bn to $54bn against a prior estimate of $55bn to $57bn.
As a result, the company’s shares ended trading yesterday (8 May) at $50.73, down more than 16% on the day.
In a call with analysts to discuss the results, CEO Donnie King pointed to a number of headwinds facing the protein heavyweight, including cost inflation, lower commodity prices for fresh chicken and reduced demand for beef from cash-strapped shoppers which makes it difficult to pass on the expenses in its supply chain.
As a result, second-quarter sales stood at $13.13bn, compared to $13.11bn a year earlier. The company reported an operating loss of $49m compared to a profit of $1.15bn a year earlier. Adjusted operating income for the first half of the fiscal year slumped 80% to $518m.
King told analysts: “This quarter was definitely a tough one … results were weaker than expected and top-line performance was mixed, particularly when compared to our strong performance last year.”
He added: “I can’t remember a time when our business faced the highly unusual situation that we’re currently seeing, where all three of our core protein categories, beef, pork and chicken are experiencing market challenges at the same time. This unusual confluence of issues continued in Q2 and directly impacted our results.”
However, King remains bullish about Tyson Foods’ prospects, especially in relation to its branded products.
“Our branded foods business is the key growth pillar for the future and in Q2, the business performed well. These results were driven by the strength of our share position, especially for our core brands, including Jimmy Dean, Tyson and Hillshire Farm, which helped deliver strong margins compared to the same 13-week period last year,” he said.
King, meanwhile, also pointed to Tyson’s ongoing strategy to cut costs, which he described as “important initiatives to simplify our structure and right-size our team”.
He added: “These are a logical next step in our ongoing efforts to drive operational and functional excellence as we strive to be best-in-class in our industry.”
King told analysts: “We also made the difficult choice earlier this quarter to close two of our less productive chicken plants. These strategic actions are expected to generate significant efficiencies going forward.”
Last month, in another cost-savig measure, Tyson revealed it was to make cuts at the senior executive level.
On a bullish note, King told analysts: “Despite challenging market conditions, we continue to execute our strategy and have significant opportunities in front of us……We continue to invest in automation and digital capabilities with opportunities to improve our yield.”
Bonduelle CEO to leave French vegetables group
Chairman Christophe Bonduelle said the company “needs a new lease on life”.
Bonduelle CEO Guillaume Debrosse has left the French vegetables supplier.
In a stock-exchange filing, the company said Debrosse, who has been at the helm for five years, has stepped down “by mutual agreement”.
Bonduelle said Debrosse’s successor “will be appointed in the coming weeks”.
In the meantime, chairman Christophe Bonduelle will take on the role.
Mr Bonduelle indicated the company had lined up its new CEO.
He said: “The board of directors and I are convinced that, given the demanding environment in which the company is operating, the group needs a new lease on life.
“The new CEO, whose identity will be announced in the coming weeks, has extensive knowledge of the US market, where he has held general management positions for more than 20 years in several groups in the food sector. I would like to warmly thank Guillaume Debrosse for his professionalism and commitment during his 16 years with the group.”
Debrosse joined the family-controlled Bonduelle in 2007 as finance director for the company’s fresh-products business in Europe.
In the 12 months to 30 June 2022, Bonduelle generated revenue of €2.89bn ($3.19bn), up 4.1% on a year earlier.
However, the company booked a 3.7% fall in current operating income to €96.6m and a 38% slide in net income to €35.4m.
At the time, Bonduelle pointed to “difficulties” in its North American fresh-foods business, as well as the “continuing sanitary [Covid-19] crisis, unfavourable weather conditions [and] the first wave of inflation emphasised by the geopolitical context and the disorganisation of supply chains”.
The dairy companies also present in dairy alternatives
Just Food rounds up what some of the world’s leading dairy businesses are providing in the growing market of dairy alternatives.
In the same way that large meat companies are increasingly offering meat alternatives, the world’s leading dairy businesses, or food majors with a significant position in dairy, are becoming ever more involved in providing dairy alternatives.
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