Dublin-headquartered fruit and vegetable giant Dole has cut its earnings target for this year due to higher costs faced by the business, the company’s latest quarterly report said.
New York-listed Dole, established in 2021, was created following the merger of Dublin-based Fyffes spin-out, Total Produce and Dole Food Company in the US.
In May, the group warned the conflict in the Middle East could weigh on the business’s performance and feed through to higher costs later in the year.
During the third quarter, revenues were up by 3.8 per cent year on year to $2.3 billion (€2.05 billion), while adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) rose from $80.8 million to $84.1 million.
READ MORE
In the first nine months of the year, however, despite revenue rising from $6.8 billion to $7.2 billion, adjusted Ebitda fell from $322.7 million to $301.1 million.
Dole executive chairman Carl McCann said the group has delivered a “solid performance” during a challenging period.
“Due to the higher cost environment, our expectations for the remainder of the year have moderated and we are now targeting full-year adjusted Ebitda in the range of $380 million to $390 million for 2026.”
The company, which was previously targeting adjusted Ebitda of $400 million, said in a statement that fuel and shipping costs “remain elevated” and weather conditions, including the El Niño climate pattern, continued to affect fruit availability.
“In Europe, higher shipping fuel costs are expected to have an impact of approximately $16 million relative to our original expectations for 2026,” it said.
McCann added strategic actions taken by the company in the past 18 months, designed to help the business to focus on core areas, have given it “greater financial flexibility to support our continued development”.
Earlier this year, the company completed the sale of a port in Ecuador and it also acquired Greenfood Fresh Produce in Sweden to expand its presence in Scandinavia.
Last year, the company also sold its fresh vegetable division to private equity firm Arable Capital Partners in a deal worth $140 million. In the third quarter of last year, operations now discontinued by Dole led to $45.2 million of losses for the company.
During the quarter, Dole’s fresh fruit segment, which specialises in banana and pineapple sales, recorded a decline in revenue of 8 per cent to around $818.7 million due to tariffs, reduced banana sales in North America and lower pineapple volumes in Europe.
Adjusted Ebitda in this division rose 6 per cent in the quarter to $28.7 million due to improved banana pricing in North America and higher banana volumes in Europe, but the pricing and sales benefits were partially offset by elevated pineapple production costs due to adverse weather conditions.
Dole’s diversified fresh produce business in Europe increased its revenue by 9.3 per cent to $1.09 billion in the third quarter, but adjusted Ebitda fell by 3.1 per cent to $39.4 million due to weaker performance in the Netherlands and Spain.
Revenue also rose at its diversified fresh produce operation in the Americas, with sales up 14.1 per cent to $479.2 million as a result of higher volumes in key products, including kiwis, avocados, grapes and tomatoes. Adjusted Ebitda also rose 22.8 per cent to $15.8 million.
