Chiquita losses, lays off 300 workers in Latin America
The banana company saw a 5 percent drop in sales in the three months ended on March 31, to $725 million. That’s down from $761 million at the same time last year, according to a quarterly report. The firm’s net loss more than doubled to $64.6 million, compared with $24.6 million during the same quarter last year.
The company paid out up to $5 million in severance payments to employees who were let go in Latin America, and it incurred $48 million in legal and advisory fees in connection with a proposed merger with Irish produce company Fyffes – a deal company shareholders voted down last fall.
Attracted by $22 million worth of state and local incentives, Chiquita relocated its headquarters from Cincinnati to Charlotte in 2011. But after failing to reverse its own financial troubles, the company last year agreed to be acquired by Brazilian financial firm Safra Group and orange juice-maker Cutrale for $681 million, with plans to move its headquarters and more than 300 jobs from Charlotte.
The merger made Chiquita a private subsidiary. In the aftermath, about 40 employees had been laid off by February, and the company said it expected job cuts to continue into October.
Source: charlotteobserver.com
