Seneca Foods Corporation (SENEA Quick QuoteSENEA - Free Report) delivered a loss per share of 32 cents in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, narrower than the year-ago quarter’s loss of $4.34 per share.

Full-year earnings per share was $8.56, up 637.9% compared with the fiscal 2023 period.

Revenues in Detail

Seneca Foods registered revenues of $307.9 million in the fiscal fourth quarter, down 6.9% year over year.

The decline in quarterly revenues resulted primarily due to lower sales volumes, which were partially offset by higher selling prices.

Full-year revenues were $1.46 billion, indicating a 3.4% decline from the comparable fiscal 2023 period.

Geographic Details

For fiscal 2024, Seneca Foods’ domestic sales amounted to $1.37 billion, down 2.4% from the comparable fiscal 2023 period.

International sales for fiscal 2024 amounted to $83.8 million, down 16.7% from the comparable fiscal 2023 period.

Segment Details

Seneca Foods’ operations consist of two reportable food packaging segments — Vegetable and Fruit/Snack. The Other category comprises non-food operations, including revenues derived from the sale of cans, ends, seed and outside revenues from the company's trucking and aircraft operations and certain corporate items.

For fiscal 2024, canned vegetables reported revenues of $1.20 billion, down 3.9% from the comparable fiscal 2023 period.

Frozen vegetables sales during fiscal 2024 totaled $120.8 million, down 0.3% from the comparable fiscal 2023 period.

Revenues from the sale of fruit products and snack products during fiscal 2024 amounted to $87.4 million and $13.4 million, down 4.4% and up 5.8%, respectively, from the comparable fiscal 2023 period.

Revenues from the Other category during fiscal 2024 were $32.2 million, up 4.6% from the comparable fiscal 2023 period.

Seneca Foods Corp. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

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Seneca Foods Gross Margin

In the quarter under review, Seneca Foods’ gross margin as a percentage of net sales was 6.7%. For fiscal 2024, gross margin as a percentage of net sales was 12.9%, an expansion of 599 basis points (bps).

Operating Expenses Analysis

During fiscal 2024, the selling, general and administrative expenses increased 0.2% to $81.2 million from the comparable fiscal 2023 period.

Profitability

Adjusted operating profit for fiscal 2024 totaled $107 million, indicating a 360.3% uptick from the comparable fiscal 2023 period. The adjusted operating margin for fiscal 2024 expanded 580 bps to 7.3%.

For the fiscal fourth quarter, Seneca Foods’ net loss was $2.3 million, narrower than the net loss of $33.1 million in the prior-year quarter. For fiscal 2024, net income was $63.3 million, up 585.9% from the comparable fiscal 2023 period.

Seneca Foods’ FIFO EBITDA during fiscal 2024 was $189.6 million, down 10.6% from the comparable fiscal 2023 period.

Liquidity & Debt Management

Seneca Foods exited fiscal 2024 with cash of $4.5 million compared with $5.2 million at the fiscal 2023-end.

Total debt (including lease obligations) at the end of fiscal 2024 was $615.9 million compared with $458.5 million at the fiscal 2023-end.

Cumulative net cash provided by operating activities at the end of fiscal 2024 was $4.9 million compared with $63.9 million a year ago.

Our Take

Seneca Foods exited the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 with solid bottom-line results. Robust performances by its snack products and Other categories were impressive. Improvement in both margins was also promising.

However, Seneca Foods’ dismal top-line performances in the reported quarter were disappointing. The decline in revenues from its canned vegetables, frozen vegetables and fruit products categories during fiscal 2024 was also concerning. Discouraging geographic performances during the fiscal year also raises concern.