Last year was not an easy one for SunRype, the fruit juice and fruit snack manufacturer based in Kelowna, but things appear to be looking a little brighter at the end of the third quarter of 2012.
A year ago the publicly traded company (SRF on the Toronto Stock Exchange) lost $3 million on sales of $39 million, which amounted to a loss of 28¢ per share. The third quarter of 2012 has turned that around to a profit of a half million dollars or 5¢ per share based on net sales of $116.4 million. That’s almost $6 million more than last year when net sales came in at $110.8 million.
SunRype says it isn’t quite time to break out the bubbly apple juice in celebration yet. In their third quarter report the company says fruit juice sales (technically known as shelf-stable juice category) have been declining and no one is certain the decline has stopped or if that trend will continue. They are also unsure why people are not buying as much fruit juice as they used to.
A shrinking market means increased competition for the money that is out there and SunRype said, “Management anticipates that these factors may result in net losses in the fourth quarter of 2012 and the first quarter of 2013.”
