Fruit company Fyffes has reported a 6.4% increase in total revenues for the six months to the end of June, and said that trading conditions have remained positive in the early months of the second half of the year.
The company said that it is increasing its target earnings range for the full year from €27-33m to €29-34m.
Fyffes said that its pre-tax profits inched 1.1% higher to €22.2m from €21.9m while total revenues - including its share of joint ventures - rose to €585.4m from €550.1m.
The company said its interim dividend rose by 4.6% to 0.68 cent from 0.65 cent in the first half of last year.
''Having achieved a significant step up in profits in 2012, Fyffes is pleased to have grown its business further and consolidated its earnings at this higher level in the first half of 2013,'' commented the company's chairman David McCann.
Half yearly sales were higher in each of the group's product categories, as a result of further organic growth in bananas and melons and price inflation in pineapples. However, the company noted that revenue growth was held back by lower average pricing in the melon market and the currency impact on sterling and dollar sales.
In the banana category, Fyffes said that trading conditions were relatively more difficult due to the long winter in Europe and excess market volumes. As had been expected, fruit costs were also higher this year, continuing a multi-year trend.
In pineapples, the company said it saw a ''satisfactory'' increase in operating profits for the first six months of the year, while its US melon business again performed well during the key import season, with another big increase in volumes.
The company said that trading conditions in the early months of the second half of 2013 have remained positive. It said it would continue to pursue the necessary increases in selling prices in all markets to offset the impact of higher fruit costs and less favourable exchange rates.
