Fresh Del Monte 1Q Profit Falls On Charges, Dollar

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. said Tuesday its first-quarter profit slid 45 percent, hurt by a stronger dollar and asset impairment charges.

The seller of prepared and fresh fruits and vegetables earned $34.9 million, or 55 cents per share. That's down from $63.6 million, or $1 per share, a year earlier.

Excluding $2 million in asset impairment charges and other items, profit was $35.3 million, or 56 cents per share.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters predicted net income of 89 cents per share. Analysts' estimates normally exclude one-time items.

For the period ended March 27, sales dipped 2 percent to $879.7 million from $894.9 million. The results missed Wall Street's estimate of $921.3 million.

While sales of bananas increased on higher prices and other fresh produce revenue was even with the prior year, prepared food sales dropped 25 percent to $76.8 million from $101.9 million. The unit's revenue decline was due to lower sales of canned fruit and beverage products, mostly in the U.K.