SunOpta (NASDAQ: STKL) reported Q3 EPS of ($0.11), in-line with the analyst estimate of ($0.11). Revenue for the quarter came in at $295.9 million versus the consensus estimate of $301.87 million.

“In the third quarter, we delivered consolidated revenue growth, adjusted for changes in our business of 6.6% and adjusted EBITDA¹ of $9.9 million. This was led by outstanding performance in our plant-based beverage and broth business, as a direct result of the investments we have made and our enhanced focus on optimizing our product portfolio,” said Joe Ennen, Chief Executive Officer at SunOpta. “Our Healthy Beverage platform reported 31% adjusted revenue growth and a 390 basis-point increase in margins, supported by the addition of new capacity to the aseptic network in 2019. We continue to see strong demand across channels and product categories within Healthy Beverage, supporting the capacity expansion that was brought online this summer. Heading into the fourth quarter, our beverage capacity and capabilities are meaningfully improved when compared to last year, which should allow us to more efficiently meet higher demand for broth during this seasonally strong period.”

“Revenue and margins in our Healthy Fruit platform were consistent with our expectations. While Healthy Fruit was unprofitable in the third quarter, the impact of this year’s weather-related strawberry crop shortfall was in-line with our second quarter outlook. We believe the third quarter will represent the low point for frozen fruit margins, and we anticipate sequential improvement in the fourth quarter and into 2020. We are making progress on the fruit margin optimization plan, including the installation of further automation to lower variable labor costs, building rational customer pricing structures, and enhancing business planning and leadership. We remain flexible and nimble in our response to the crop shortfalls in Mexico and California, leveraging our global sourcing capabilities to service our customers through the procurement of additional supply from South America. While progress against our fruit margin optimization plan will continue to be masked in the near-term by the 2019 crop shortfall, we remain confident that the structural improvements we have made to date are building a strong foundation for future profitability.”

“In the third quarter, we also completed a reorganization of our corporate and CPG organizational structure. The goal of this action was to delayer the top of the organization, create more direct accountability by fully aligning all commercial functions under general managers, and to increase our speed and decisiveness. While these changes resulted in minimal savings for the quarter, the annualized benefit of these changes is expected to be $8 to $10 million. This reorganization has the dual benefit of both improving SunOpta’s profitability and accelerating SunOpta’s transformation to a more nimble and entrepreneurial company,” concluded Mr. Ennen.

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