John B. Sanfilippo & Son higher, narrows Q1 loss
Shares of John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. (Nasdaq: JBSS) are rising following news before the start of trading that the marketer of tree nuts and peanuts reported a narrower fiscal first-quarter loss.
The Elgin, Ill.-based company announced that its net loss for the first three months of fiscal 2008 was $3.5 million, or $0.33 per share, compared with a loss of $4.8 million, or $0.46 per share, during the first quarter of fiscal 2007.
Revenue declined $1 million, or 0.7%, to $132.8 million, compared with revenues of $133.8 million a year earlier.
John B. Sanfilippo & Son, which processes, packages and distributes shelled and in-shell nuts sold under a number of private labels, attributed the decline in net sales to a decrease in sales of walnuts and almonds as the company made changes to its distribution channels.
“Our gross profit margins improved as a result of our various profitability enhancement efforts, which resulted in improved alignment of our commodity costs with our prices,” said CEO Jeffery Sanfilippo in a statement.
The gross profit margin increased to 8.8% of net sales from 4.3% a year earlier. The company managed to improve its profit margins across all distribution channels compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2007.
At 1:39 p.m. ET, shares of John B. Sanfilippo & Son (JBSS) had advanced $0.73, or 9%, to $9.08. That’s still far from the 52-week high of $16.19, which was reached on Feb. 2. The 52-week low of $6.73 was set on Sept. 24.
