<p style="text-indent:0px; line-height:12px;"><span style="font-weight:bold;line-height:130%">Charlotte, NC</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">03.12.13</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Chiquita Brands International, Inc. has reported financial and operating results for the fourth quarter and full year 2012.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> For the full year 2012, Operating income fell from $34 million in 2011 to $254 million in 2012. The company also reported comparable operating income of $7 million for 2012 compared to comparable operating income of $78 million for 2011. Adjusted EBITDA fell to $70 million last year down from $139 million in 2012.<img src="https://cdn.andnowuknow.com/legacyWriterImages/chiquita-graphs-cropped-march-2013.jpg" alt="IMAGES - MARCH 11 2013" />For the fourth quarter, operating income rose from $12 million in 2011 to $205 million. Comparable operating income rose from $2 million in 2011’s Q$ to $14 million. Adjusted EBITDA fell from $14 million last year to $3 million in Q4 2012.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Net sales for bananas were $2.0 billion in 2012, a decrease of 2 percent from the prior year primarily because of the product supply surcharge imposed in North America during the first six months of 2011 to recover higher sourcing costs.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Salads and healthy snack net sales remained consistent year-on-year at approximately $953 million as foodservice and healthy snack sales offset lower sales of retail value-added salads.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">"Chiquita has made significant progress implementing its refocused strategic direction in the second half of 2012, and is well positioned for future growth," said Ed Lonergan, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Nevertheless, after adjusting for non-comparable items, both the fourth quarter and the full year reflect the challenges the company faced throughout the year and present difficult comparisons to prior periods due to the impact of euro exchange rates and lower retail salad results. However, we also have experienced higher local banana pricing in Europe as a result of a relatively balanced banana market and have benefited from savings associated with our value chain and corporate restructurings."</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Lonergan continued, "Chiquita has momentum as we start 2013. We remain focused on our core businesses of bananas and salads, and recent successes in both areas will add profitable volume in the coming year. In addition, our value chain and overhead reduction initiatives are substantially complete and further opportunities exist. We are already seeing tangible benefits and remain confident in our ability to achieve our long-term target operating margins. As well, the recent refinancing provides us with financial flexibility and capability to focus fully on delivering against our refreshed strategic choices."</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://www.chiquita.com/Home.aspx" target="_new">Chiquita </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
