Dole, the Dublin-headquartered fruit and vegetable giant, has raised its full-year earnings guidance after its performance in the first quarter of the year exceeded expectations, with like-for-like revenues rising 4.2 per cent to $2.1 billion.
The New York-listed group said it delivered adjusted earnings of $104.8 million, surpassing its initial projections for the quarter, according to an unaudited trading update published on Monday.
Overall revenues at the group, which was formed in 2021 through the merger of Dublin-based Fyffes spin-out Total Produce and US-anchored Dole Food Company, were down $22 million compared with the same three-month period in 2024.
This was primarily down to the impact of acquisitions and divestures in the same quarter last year, the group said, as well as the “unfavourable impact” of foreign currency fluctuations.
On a like-for-like basis, Dole said revenues rose 4.2 per cent to $2.1 billion in three months to the end of March.
The group also declared an 8.5-cent per share dividend for the first quarter, up 6.25 per cent.
“For the current financial year, although the economic environment remains unpredictable, we are pleased to announce an upward revision of our guidance and are now targeting full year adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, deductibles and amortisation) of at least $380 million,” Dole executive chairman Carl McCann said in a statement.
Looking ahead, Dole said it continues to “monitor the evolving macroeconomic scenario” but it remains confident it can “navigate the challenges of the current volatile economic environment”.
Earlier this month, the group, which is the largest fruit and vegetable supplier in the world, announced it had refinanced its existing loan facilities.
