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Saputo (TSX:SAP) stays profitable despite $270M revenue drop in Q2

Consumer
TSX:SAP
06 August 2020 15:01 (EDT)
Saputo - Chairman & CEO, Lino A. Saputo

Source: Saputo Inc.

Dairy giant Saputo (SAP) has seen revenues fall but profitability bump in its latest quarterly report.

The family-owned milk and cheese manufacturer saw its net earnings balloon out 16.9 per cent, growing to C$141.9 million for the quarter. This was despite a quarterly revenue fall of 7.6 per cent to $3.39 billion.

The company said the pandemic had impacted all of its sectors to various degrees, with sales in the retail sector improving while the food service and industrial sectors declined.

Saputo’s Canadian business strongly benefited from growth in the milk segment, which was offset somewhat by lower sales volumes in the US sector.

Internationally, the company’s Australian business was also in profit, as the Lion Diary and Drinks business Saputo acquired in 2019 continued to perform above expectation.

The company decided however to retire the COONcheese brand name from Lion Dairy product portfolio, following ongoing controversy surrounding the name. However, the name change left the company with an impairment charge of $19 million after pulling products to switch the branding.

The Cheese Division and the Dairy Foods Division will now form what is simply known as the Diary Division (USA).

The new divisions management structure will largely consist of members of the two previous divisions, with the new team to be led by Carl Colizza, the former chief of the Dairy Foods division.

Saputo (SAP) is up 2.8 per cent and is trading at $34.08 per share at 1:00 pm EDT. 

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