An increase of 15.56% in the first line and 0.5% in the last. This summarizes the results in the first three quarters of 2022 of Hortifrut, the giant producer and marketer of blueberries of Chilean origin, but with operations in North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Asia. In Peru, the firm has large operations in Olmos, in the Lambeyeque department, and in Mexico, in Michoacán, Jalisco and Sinaloa.

The company published revenues of US$172.8 million in the third quarter of the year, which compares to US$145.6 million in the same period of the previous year, with an increase of 18.6% for those three months. The increase in sales did not translate into an increase in profits: US$8.13 million compared to US$17.4 million a year earlier, with which a 53% drop in quarterly profits was recorded.

With these numbers, the accumulated income for the year amounts to US$ 626.73 million, with an increase of 15.56% and profits attributable to controllers of US$ 28.8 million, equivalent to US$ 28.6 million in the same period of the previous year.

The firm explains that there were three positive factors that helped the bottom line: 1) earnings of US$40.89 million from the sale of 75% ownership of HFE Berries Perú SAC, 2) positive exchange difference of US$28.13 million, and 3) an increase in the participation in the profits of associates for US$ 2.41 million mainly explained by the result of HFE Berries Perú SAC

However, this was offset by five factors that prevented a significant increase in profits: 1) higher logistics costs, 2) higher depreciation expenses due to increased investments, especially in Chile and Mexico, 3) higher debt financing costs used for the purchase of the Spanish Atlantic Blue, 4) higher expense for impairment of assets, which amounted to US$ 48.12 million, associated with varietal replacements in Peru, Chile and Mexico, and 5) a net adjustment effect of the valuation of the fruit, which amounted to US$ 0.73 million.

rise in sales

The stagnation in the earnings of the controllers occurs despite the strong increase in the firm's sales. This is explained by the strong rise of 37.43% in the commercialized volume of fresh fruit, thanks to the higher productivity of the plants and the decision to extend the production curve until the first quarter in the operations in Peru. Added to this is the commercialization of volumes of blueberries from Morocco and Spain associated with the acquisition of Atlantic Blue; due to the maturation of blueberry fields in China, which have largely been planted with Hortifrut genetics (own and licensed). In Mexico, the ripening of raspberry plantations with Hortifrut's own variety "Centennial" helped, which has had a very good performance. In addition to the above, the higher revenues in the period are also explained by the significant growth in the volume of sales of value-added products (Vitafoods SA), which increased by 18.21% thanks to the strong demand for this segment, which also explains a slight increase in average prices from 6.65 US$/Kg in September 2021 to 6.72 US$/Kg in September 2022.

"These results indicate that, despite the fluctuations of the agricultural industry, such as the increase in some costs together with the expenses related to our growth, both the volume of sales and income continue to grow, which demonstrates the maturation of the investments in fields around the world and the strength of our genetic programs”, says Juan Ignacio Allende, CEO of Hortifrut. "In this sense, I would like to highlight the important varietal replacement that we are carrying out in Chile, Peru and Mexico, which will allow us to increase the productivity of the plants, optimize the quality of the fruit, and achieve greater cost efficiencies, thus improving profitability. of our business and continue to meet the demands of our customers around the world”.