Hain Celestial Acquires Irish Chilled Foods Specialist, Reports Record Sales
The founding management team of Cullen Allen (Cully) and Colum O'Sullivan (Sully) will continue to manage all aspects of Cully & Sully reporting to Rob Burnett, Chief Executive Officer, Hain Daniels Group.
4 May 2012 --- The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. has announced the acquisition of Cully & Sully Limited in Ireland.
Cully & Sully is a marketer and manufacturer of natural chilled soups, savory pies and hot pots, all under the Cully & Sully brand, with a range of approximately 20 products. Cully & Sully supplies all major food retailers in Ireland. The founding management team of Cullen Allen (Cully) and Colum O'Sullivan (Sully) will continue to manage all aspects of Cully & Sully reporting to Rob Burnett, Chief Executive Officer, Hain Daniels Group.
"We are pleased to be expanding our international presence into Ireland with Cully & Sully, a leading chilled brand that has delivered consistent, profitable growth since 2004," said Irwin D. Simon, Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hain Celestial. "Cully & Sully's branded soup is similar to our New Covent Garden Soup Co. brand in the United Kingdom. We are excited about the prospects to expand our presence into the Irish marketplace with our Hain Celestial and Daniels brands and to expand Cully & Sully chilled fresh soups into the United Kingdom. We see a tremendous opportunity for chilled soups as consumers move away from canned soups and into fresh chilled soups. We also welcome two energetic, creative entrepreneurs, Cully and Sully, to the Hain Celestial Europe team. We hope to utilize Cully and Sully's knowledge and expertise for Hain Daniels and here in the United States as we move chilled fresh soups to the North American marketplace," continued Irwin Simon.
"Since the inception of Cully & Sully, we've always been about natural, good tasting and honest food, where quality and traditional cooking techniques are paramount," commented Cullen Allen. "Joining the Hain Daniels Group will provide us with the opportunity to broaden our product offerings into other categories and to expand the Cully & Sully brand into the United Kingdom," added Colum O'Sullivan.
"As leaders in the chilled category in the United Kingdom, we're excited to be leveraging the Hain Daniels footprint with the creative talent and product offerings of Cully & Sully to further our growth prospects," concluded Rob Burnett.
The acquisition is expected to be neutral to Hain Celestial's earnings in fiscal year 2012 and to be accretive to earnings in fiscal year 2013. Details of the transaction were not disclosed.
The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. also reported record results for the third quarter ended March 31, 2012.
Record Performance Highlights
• Record net sales up 31.5% over the comparable period in fiscal year 2011
• Record GAAP net income up 43.7%; adjusted net income up 53.6%
• Record GAAP operating income increased 31.7%; adjusted operating income increased 42.0%
• Record GAAP diluted EPS of $0.52; adjusted diluted EPS of $0.54
• Record adjusted EBITDA increased 32.8% to $51.6 million compared to $38.8 million in the prior year third quarter
• Operating free cash flow improved by 30.1%, reaching $79.3 million for the 12 months ended March 31, 2012 compared to $61.0 million for the 12 months ended March 31, 2011
"Our natural and organic products continue to resonate with consumers both domestically and internationally, outpacing the trends of conventional consumer packaged goods companies. Our focused execution drove robust top line sales and profitability across various classes of trade, led by natural and organic food retailers and followed by other retailers as consumers continue to seek out our natural and organic products," said Irwin D. Simon, Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hain Celestial. "We are delivering on our core strategies of profitable growth, expanding net income margin, leveraging our acquisitions with improved efficiencies and increasing operating free cash flow—all providing a solid foundation for sustainable long-term growth for the Company."
