SunOpta Reports Record Quarterly Revenues of $311.2 Million

08 Aug 2013 --- SunOpta Inc. has announced record second quarter revenues of $311.2 million, an increase of 10.2% versus the 2012 second quarter, with operating income of $13.3 million, or 4.3% of revenues and EBITDA of $18.7 million, or 6.0% of revenues.

"We are pleased with our record revenues for the quarter and year-to-date periods, combined with the continued momentum in our core natural and organic foods business. There is no doubt that interest in healthy eating continues to grow and we believe we are well positioned to capitalize on future growth as consumers around the world increase their interest in healthy eating and healthy living," commented Steve Bromley, Chief Executive Officer. "We continued to see strong growth in our value added product offerings during the quarter, and with a number of our expansion projects now coming on line, we look forward to realizing the benefits of these expansions. As we anticipated, our margins in the quarter were impacted by crop quality associated with the poor growing conditions experienced in 2012 and cyclical weakness in the steel and infrastructure segments within our non-core holding, Opta Minerals. As we look ahead, we believe that 2013 will be another successful year for our Company as we continue to execute on our core strategies of growing our value-added packaged foods and ingredients portfolio, and leveraging our integrated platform in support of our long-term operating targets."

Second Quarter revenues increased 10.2% to a record $311.2 million as compared to $282.3 million in the second quarter of 2012. The increase in consolidated revenues was driven by strong demand and increased prices for organic grains and feed products, continued growth in consumer packaged categories including aseptic non-dairy beverages and re-sealable pouch products, as well as higher sales within Opta Minerals Inc. as a result of recent acquisitions. Excluding the impact of a number of factors including commodity, currency and product rationalizations, revenues in SunOpta Foods increased approximately 7.2% versus the prior year and consolidated revenues increased approximately 5.7%.

Operating income for the second quarter was $13.3 million, or 4.3% of revenues, as compared to $14.3 million, or 5.1% of revenues in 2012. Operating earnings were driven by solid results across the Company's grains, feed, international ingredients and consumer products operations, offset by the effect of the 2012 drought on sunflower processing yields and by-product values, and Opta Minerals which continued to face cyclical weakness in both the steel and infrastructure sectors and the cost of integrating recent acquisitions.

For the quarter ended June 29, 2013 the Company incurred a loss from continuing operations of $15.0 million or $0.23 per diluted common share, compared to earnings from continuing operations of $7.3 million or $0.11 per diluted common share for the second quarter of 2012. Included in the results for the second quarter is a non-cash charge of approximately $21.5 million after tax, or $0.32 per diluted common share, representing a 64% write-down of the carrying value of the Company's non-core investment in Mascoma Corporation. In assessing the fair value the Company considered a number of factors including the values of comparable public companies in the renewable energy space, which have experienced declines in value that no longer appear to be of a temporary nature. The Company's investment in Mascoma was established in the third quarter of 2010 following the sale of SunOpta BioProcess Inc. in return for a minority equity stake in Mascoma. At that time, a non-cash gain on sale was recognized and adjusted earnings were reported to remove the effect of the gain.

Excluding the Mascoma impairment charge, adjusted earnings from continuing operations1 in the second quarter of 2013 were $6.5 million or $0.10 per diluted common share. In addition, earnings for the second quarter include the impact of approximately $1.7 million in pre-tax severance, acquisition and start-up costs, or approximately $1.0 million after-tax and minority interest.

For the second quarter of 2013 EBITDA was $18.7 million as compared to $19.4 million during the second quarter of 2012.