High Liner continues streak of earnings growth with solid Q4 2022

High Liner Foods reported its fourth consecutive year of adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) growth after it ended the year with a strong Q4 performance.

For the full year, High Liner posted an adjusted EBITDA of USD 103.9 million (EUR 98.1 million). That total is an increase of 14.9 percent, or USD 13.5 million (EUR 12.7 million) from the USD 90.4 million (EUR 85.3 million) the company posted for FY 2021.

The company’s sales and gross profit also both increased in 2022. Sales jumped 22.2 percent for the full year to USD 1.06 billion (EUR 1 billion), up USD 194.3 million (EUR 183.6 million) from the USD 875.4 million (EUR 827.3 million) High Liner earned in 2021. Gross profit increased 15.8 percent, or USD 31.4 million (EUR 29.6 million), to USD 229.9 million (EUR 293.4 million) – up from a gross profit of USD 198.5 million (EUR 187.5 million) in 2021.

For Q4 2022, the company posted an adjusted EBITDA of USD 25.4 million (EUR 23.9 million), a 23.3 percent, or USD 4.8 million (EUR 4.5 million), increase from the USD 20.5 million (EUR 19.3 million) it earned in Q4 2021. Sales and gross profit also increased for the quarter. The company posted a sales total of USD 250.3 million (EUR 236.5 million), up 9.8 percent, or USD 22.4 million (EUR 21.1 million) from the USD 227.9 million (EUR 215.3 million) it posted in Q4 2021.

Gross profit increased by USD 6.2 million (EUR 5.8 million), or 12.8 percent, to USD 54.8 million (EUR 51.7 million), up from USD 48.6 million (EUR 45.9 million) in Q4 2021.

"We ended the year with another solid quarter of earnings, including higher sales, gross profit and Adjusted EBITDA, supporting our delivery of the fourth consecutive year of Adjusted EBITDA growth," High Liner Foods President and Chief Executive Officer Rod Hepponstall said. "This is a tremendous result that stands out in our corporate history and reflects the significant transformation of our business and the talent and hard work of our team."

The solid quarter, and year, is the culmination of the five-point plan to shift back to profitability the company announced soon after Hepponstall was hired in April 2018.

“The work behind these numbers began in earnest four years ago when I joined the company and we initiated a series of five critical initiatives to reposition High Liner foods for profitable organic growth over the long term,” Hepponstall said.

At the time, High Liner was facing a tough situation, with declining sales volumes and values. As part of the realignment plan Hepponstall introduced, the company laid off 14 percent of its salaried work force and began to identify and implement efficiency initiatives at its operations in the U.S. and Canada.

“We integrated our business across the border, enhance the efficiency of our global supply chain and optimize our product portfolio to deliver value to our customers,” Hepponstall said. “A spirit of continuous improvement and high performance held true quarter after quarter and year after year. It brought us to the point last year where we gain market share and outperform the category on both sides of the border and in both our foodservice and retail businesses and successfully expanded the reach of our most successful product offerings into new channels and markets.”

The company has seen some impacts of inflation …

Photo courtesy of High Liner Foods