According to the company’s results for its nutraceutical business, EBITDA for the financial year rose by 326 percent to $2,934,000, up from $688,000 the previous year.
"Revenues reached a record level of $16.6 million despite the impact of the increasing competitiveness of the market and the negative impact on revenue from the strength of the Canadian dollar versus the US dollar,” said Frédéric Harland, Director Finance.
“Nevertheless, we increased our revenues by more than 30 percent, which represents our best performance in the past five years," he added.
Q4/2011 versus Q4/2010
Results from the most recent quarter, however, took a hit from a strong Canadian dollar versus the US dollar, with EBITDA for the three-month period ended February 28, 2011 posted at negative $135,000, compared to $775,000 the previous year.
In an email with NutraIngredients, Harland explained that, in terms of quantities sold, the company sold “a lot more [krill oil] than the year before”.
“The devaluation of the USD currency had an impact of $400k to $500k and keep in mind that Q4/2010 was our best ever quarter,” added Harland.
The company launched the new ECO Krill Oil-EKO at Health Ingredient Europe 2010 in Madrid. The product is reportedly similar to the established NKO ingredient but with slightly lower specifications and a lower selling price.
“We also have reduced slightly our NKO pricing to be more competitive and sold a little bit more EKO (lower price to NKO, same margin),” said Harland.
"This year's consolidated profitability is a major achievement considering the Research & Development expenses incurred by Neptune, NeuroBioPharm and principally by Acasti with the development of its drug candidate, CaPre,'' added André Godin, CFO.