<p style="text-indent:0px; line-height:12px;"><span style="font-weight:bold;"> Santa Paula, CA -</span><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">By ANUK Staff<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">01.04.12</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Calavo Growers, Inc. has reported that fiscal 2012 fourth-quarter income rose 69% to the highest quarterly net income in company history from fourth quarter last year. The gains caused annual net income to rise by 54% over last year, according to a press release.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">For the three months ending Oct. 31, 2012, net income soared from $3.6 million to a record $6.2 million for the fiscal 2011 fourth quarter. Revenues totaled $141.6 million versus $147.3 million in the fiscal 2011 fourth quarter, owing mainly to the decline in fresh avocados prices which has resulted from the significantly larger current-year fruit supply.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Chairman, President, and CEO Lee E. Cole addressed the gains: “Calavo registered the single-highest net income for any period in its history during the final quarter, enabling us to post results for fiscal 2012 that are among its best ever, including revenues and gross margin which shattered previous record highs. We benefited from strong showings in each of our three business segments and this operating momentum continues to validate the strategic blueprint we established for the company—all indicators are trending favorably.”<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Cole noted that a large avocado harvest in California led to “Calavo packing nearly 900,000 more cartons of fruit in the final quarter than a year earlier and approximately 2.4 million more units for the whole of fiscal 2012.”<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Net income for the fiscal year ended Oct. 31, 2012 climbed from $11.1 million to $17.1 million. Fiscal 2012 results include the effect of a $1.8 million income tax expense recorded in the second quarter largely attributable to an unfavorable ruling in a disputed matter with Mexico’s tax authority’s examination of the 2004 tax year. Net income for fiscal 2012 before the Mexican tax issue was $18.9 million.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">In Calavo’s Fresh business segment, final-quarter revenues totaled $91.0 million, down from $102.3 million in last year’s fourth quarter. The year-to-year decline in segment revenues is indicative of the significantly larger supply of avocados in the marketplace, as compared to fiscal 2011, which resulted in substantially lower prices during the current year for the quarter.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Revenues in the Calavo Foods business segment crept upward in the fourth quarter from $11.2 million to $11.6 million in the fiscal 2011 fourth quarter. The business unit, which encompasses the company’s legacy products, including prepared avocados, salsa and tortilla chips, continued to benefit from the large supply of fruit in the marketplace as well as improved pricing.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Calavo CEO Cole stated that “the company begins fiscal 2013 with considerable operating momentum at its back. As a result of the growing velocity in our businesses, I am confident that Calavo will register record net income and per-share results in fiscal 2013.”<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">“With so many platforms driving Calavo’s revenue and profit engines—all performing exceptionally well—the company begins fiscal 2013 in an enviable position and I look forward to a very successful year ahead,” Cole concluded.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href="http://www.calavo.com" target="_new"> Calavo </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
