Major South American berry group Hortifrut saw its earnings attributable to shareholders rise 40% last year to hit US$26.6 million, despite a 9% drop in sales that was mostly due to earlier harvests in the 2016-17 campaign. 

In its annual results released last week, the Chile-headquartered company highlighted the increased profit had come about thanks to less deterioriation of its fields to the tune of US$15.5 million, less tax, and better results from its investments in Peruvian entity Hortifrut Tal S.A.C.

The average price per kilo in the group's berry mix was also up by 1.4%, which explains why the fall in sales to US$388.8 million wasn't as pronounced as the 10.5% reduction in volume (46,060 metric tons).

Fresh fruit (including blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and cherries) accounted for 94% of Hortifrut's consolidated income, with the remainder coming from value-added products.

The sales drop pushed down EBITDA by 11% to US$59.5 million but its EBITDA VPP, which refers to equity-method value and encapsulates holdings in all associated subsidiaries, was 3% higher at US$68.6 million.

In 2017 Hortifrut made investments of US$64.9 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 7.5% and mostly focused on new plantings, field maintenance and infrastrucure.

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