Canadian dairy company Saputo has reported its financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2017, which ended on December 31, 2016. All amounts are in Canadian dollars, unless otherwise indicated.

Net earnings totalled $197.4 million, an increase of $22.2 million or 12.7%. Adjusted net earnings totalled $197.4 million, an increase of $22.0 million or 12.5%. Earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation, amortization, gain on disposal of a business, acquisition and restructuring costs (adjusted EBITDA1 ) amounted to $346.6 million, an increase of $26.2 million or 8.2%. Revenues for the quarter amounted to $2.966 billion, an increase of $65.1 million or 2.2%. Adjusted earnings per share (basic and diluted) were $0.50 and $0.49, respectively for the quarter as compared to $0.45 and $0.44 for the corresponding quarter last fiscal year, an increase of 11.1% and 11.4% respectively.

In the Canada Sector, adjusted EBITDA increased due to better operational efficiencies, as well as higher sales volumes and a favourable product mix. In the USA Sector, the combined effect of the fluctuation of the average block market per pound of cheese and the average butter market price per pound, as well as an unfavourable product mix negatively impacted revenues, as compared to the same quarter last fiscal year. Adjusted EBITDA increased due to a better alignment of selling prices with fluctuating commodity prices, lower ingredients costs and improved operational efficiencies. Market factors of approximately $3 million negatively affected adjusted EBITDA, as compared to the same quarter last fiscal year.

In the International Sector, revenues increased due to higher selling prices in the domestic market and higher sales volumes in both the domestic and export markets. Selling prices on the international cheese and dairy ingredient market have also increased during the quarter. Adjusted EBITDA was positively impacted by higher selling prices in the export market. The fluctuation of the Canadian dollar versus foreign currencies during the quarter had a negative impact on revenues of approximately $44 million, as compared to the same quarter last fiscal year, mainly due to the weakening of the Argentine peso. This fluctuation positively impacted adjusted EBITDA by approximately $3 million, as compared to the same quarter last fiscal year.