Mission Produce reports earnings drop in first post-IPO filing
Revenue and net income took a hit in the fourth quarter of 2020 for Oxnard-based Mission Produce, as the company released its first earnings report on Jan. 19 since its initial public offering in October.
Mission Produce reported revenue totaling $206.8 million for the quarter ended Oct. 31, which was an 11% decrease from the same quarter of 2019.
Net income also dropped, from $23.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2019 to $18.8 million in 2020. Like many produce companies, Mission has seen wholesale prices for its products drop precipitously during the pandemic, even as sales volumes rose.
“Our October IPO was yet another milestone for our company and we are pleased to be in a position to continue pursuing the significant growth opportunity that lies ahead,” Mission Produce CEO Steve Barnard said in a news release. “We look forward to growing this category through our year-round distribution capabilities and meet consumer demand for this popular superfood.”
Mission Produce released its fourth quarter results at the start of the trading day on Jan. 19. The stock opened the day at $15.64 and was trading around $16.33 four hours later.
Like other agribusiness companies across the Tri-Counties, Mission saw dips in both revenue and net income due to a drop in sales prices for avocados. The company sold 169 pounds of avocados in the fourth quarter of 2020, which was up from 145 pounds in 2019; however, the average price per pound sold dropped from $1.58 to $1.20.
The result was a gross profit of 23 cents per pound sold, as opposed to the 29 cents it made during the fourth quarter of the previous year.
For the full year of 2020, the company sold 619 pounds of avocados, which was up from 559 pounds in 2019, but the average price per pound was down from $1.56 in 2019 to $1.37 in 2020.
Santa Paula-based Limoneira saw similar results when it released its fourth quarter earnings on Jan. 11, reporting sales of 787,000 cartons of lemons, while the price per carton sold dropped nearly $5 from the previous year.
Fellow avocado distributor Calavo Growers in Santa Paula also saw a decrease in revenue and net income despite the fact it sold 379,000 pounds of avocados for fiscal year 2020, a 6.6% increase from 2019.
Mission Produce finished the year down in revenue as the company raked in $862.3 million in fiscal year 2020, down from $883.3 million.
Similarly, net income was down from $71.7 million in 2019 to just $28.8 million in 2020. The company’s cash and cash equivalents, however, grew from $64 million in 2019 to $124 million at the end of fiscal year 2020.
