Exchange rate, product recall costs hit revenues at Dublin-based Dole

Exchange rate and product recall costs hit revenues at Dublin-based Dole, the world's biggest fruit and vegetable supplier, in the first three months of the year.

Fyffes' offshoot, Total Produce, took over US-based Dole Foods last year to create a new global supplier. The company said on Tuesday that on a like-for-like basis, revenue for the three months to March 31st fell to $2.245 billion (€2.1 billion) from $2.26 billion during the same quarter in 2021.

Dole blamed the cost of recalling bagged salads linked to a listeria outbreak in the US, and foreign exchange expenses, for the fall in sales. Both together cost $112 million, the company said.

The product recall began late last year but ran into January. US authorities have since confirmed that the listeria outbreak has ended.

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Net income for the first quarter fell to $3.3 million in 2022 from $63.2 million during the same three months last year.

Carl McCann, executive chairman, said the company was pleased with its first-quarter results, particularly given the foreign exchange and product recall impact.

“Our diversified business model has once more proven itself to be resilient,” he added.

Dole hopes 2022 revenues will hit somewhere between $9.4 billion and $9.7 billion, while it aims for earnings before interest, tax and write-offs of $350 million to $370 million.

The directors declared a dividend of eight cent a share for the quarter, payable in July.

Dole cautioned that it was difficult to predict what impact the war in Ukraine could have on trade, inflation and foreign exchange rates, or on how this might affect the group for the rest of the year.