Greenyard’s debt has increased to seven times the amount of its gross profit. The company released its full year report of 2018/2019 and although Greenyard is trying to reform by getting rid of 422 jobs globally, it’s evident that the company has had a very rough year.
Co-CEO and majority shareholder Hein Deprez stated that ‘2018 was the most challenging year in the history of the company’ while presenting the full year report. As the profits took a nosedive, Greenyard’s leverage increased. In 2017 this number was set at 2.8, now the company is looking at a leverage of 7.2. Greenyard also had to deal with the recalls of last year, which left its mark on the company’s profits.
To solve the debts, Greenyard is looking for a financial injection of 80 to 120 million euros. It will need new investors to meet that target. It’s also trying to sell off certain divisions. It was recently reported Greenyard sold off one of its factories in Hungary to Roger & Roger, how much was paid for it is still unknown.
Hein Deprez, co-CEO said: “Last accounting year was a transitional year. We have put a lot of effort and time in shifting our model further from a transactional model in fruit and vegetables to a real partnership model with our retailers and this shift proved to be more challenging than expected. Given the unexpected impact of the extremely dry summer in our Fresh and Long Fresh segments, the recall action in the beginning of the summer in Long Fresh, but in particular, the longer than expected market pressure in our key Fresh markets, Greenyard experienced difficult times, which called for decisive actions. We have appointed Mr Marc Zwaaneveld as co-CEO and together with our colleagues, we have taken important decisions to transform Greenyard into the global partner of choice for our customers. We are consolidating the company and usingour strength and scale to increase our efficiency to the benefit of all our stakeholders, colleagues, customers, consumers and shareholders. Today, there is still a way to go, but we see the first promising green shoots of the Transformation Plan gradually pushing up the results.”
Marc Zwaaneveld, co-CEO adds: “We have a solid Transformation Plan which we are meticulously implementing today. The first results of the new accounting year are above budget and above last year and already show that Greenyard has a lot of unleashed potential. By driving a stringent execution of the Transformation Plan, we can unlock large untapped potential that will improve our efficiency and profitability. In addition, various divestments as well as conversations with potential cornerstone investors are ongoing. We refocus our footprint whilst continuing to guarantee our customers the service levels they are used to. We are working diligently to improve the profitability of our company again with a stronger balance sheet that is more robust and built for the future.”
For the complete Full Year report of 2018/2019, please click here.