Source: Potato News Today
Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. announced on Oct. 2 its fiscal first quarter 2019 results.
“We’re pleased with our solid results in the first quarter, with each of our core business segments driving sales growth and expanding product contribution margins,” said Tom Werner, the company's president and CEO. “Our results continue to reflect the strong execution by our commercial, supply chain and support teams, as well as our ongoing commitment to invest in our production capacity, operating, sales and product innovation capabilities to support our customers’ growth, improve operating efficiency and execute on our strategies over the long term.
“For the remainder of fiscal 2019, we continue to anticipate the operating environment in North America will remain generally favorable, with solid demand for frozen potato products and tight manufacturing capacity,” Werner continued. “However, we expect that our European joint venture, Lamb Weston/Meijer, will face challenges arising from a poor potato crop. Although it’s too early to determine the full impact of these challenges, we believe that Lamb Weston/Meijer’s pricing and cost reduction actions, along with opportunities in our North American and export businesses, enable us to remain on track to deliver on our fiscal 2019 targets.”
Net sales were $914.9 million, up 12 percent versus the year-ago period. Price/mix increased 8 percent due to pricing actions and favorable product and customer mix. Volume increased 4 percent, driven by growth in the Company’s Global and Retail segments. Income from operations rose 11 percent to $152.6 million from the prior year period.