SunOpta (NASDAQ: STKL) reported Q4 EPS of ($0.11), $0.05 worse than the analyst estimate of ($0.06). Revenue for the quarter came in at $320.5 million versus the consensus estimate of $292.94 million.

In a separate news release issued today, SunOpta also announced the termination of David J. Colo as President and CEO. Director Katrina L. Houde has been appointed interim CEO.

• Revenues of $320.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2018, compared to $292.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2017, an increase of 9.6%. Adjusted for changes in foreign exchange, commodity prices, and the discontinuation of flexible resealable pouch and nutrition bar products, revenues grew 16.0% during the fourth quarter.
• Loss attributable to common shareholders of $99.0 million or $1.13 per common share in the fourth quarter of 2018, compared to a loss attributable to common shareholders of $119.4 million or $1.38 per common share in the fourth quarter of 2017. The losses in the fourth quarter of 2018 and 2017 included non-cash goodwill impairment charges of $81.2 million and $115.0 million respectively associated with the healthy fruit platform.
• Adjusted loss¹ of $9.3 million or $0.11 per common share during the fourth quarter of 2018, compared to adjusted loss of $8.8 million or $0.10 per common share during the fourth quarter of 2017.
• Adjusted EBITDA¹ of $9.1 million or 2.8% of revenues for the fourth quarter of 2018, versus $9.4 million or 3.2% of revenues in the fourth quarter of 2017.
• Loss attributable to common shareholders, Adjusted loss¹ and Adjusted EBITDA¹ for the fourth quarter of 2018 included a timing-related, pre-tax gain of $0.3 million recognized in cost of goods sold, relating to the net impact of foreign exchange and commodity price movements in the quarter, on certain contracts within the European-based operations of the Global Ingredients segment, compared to a pre-tax gain of $0.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2017.

“The sale of our specialty and organic soy and corn business is consistent with our portfolio optimization strategy designed to simplify the business, invest where structural advantages exist, and exit businesses or product lines where the company is not effectively positioned to drive long-term profitable growth. We are pleased with the overall valuation of the transaction, which is a testament to the exceptional specialty, non-GMO and organic food and feed business we have built over the last 20 years. This decision allows us to reduce debt and redeploy capital to further enhance our growing consumer products and international organic sourcing platforms," said Kathy Houde, Interim Chief Executive Officer. “We accelerated revenue growth during the fourth quarter, with revenue increasing 9.6% and adjusted revenue increasing 16.0% over the fourth quarter of the prior year. We generated double-digit revenue growth in both our Consumer Products and Global Ingredient segments, reflecting the impacts of our enhanced go-to-market efforts in key product categories and strengthened customer relationships. Our sales opportunity pipeline remains robust and we are progressing on plan with capital investment projects to both expand capacity and improve margins in key areas of our portfolio. While we achieved our goal of delivering $20 million of productivity savings in 2018, these productivity gains were more than offset by decreased profitability in frozen fruit as we invested in food safety, quality, service and price to improve our positioning and key customer relationships. Fourth quarter profitability was additionally pressured by growth investments and costs associated with the launch of new SKUs across the Consumer Products segment. As a result, fourth quarter margins were not reflective of the earnings potential of our business. In 2019, our top priority is to maintain our top-line momentum while driving higher profitability through our fruit margin optimization plan.”

For earnings history and earnings-related data on SunOpta (STKL) click here.