Chiquita - ausgerechnet Bananen ..

Interessanter Verlauf, erstmals seit Jahren neue Topmarke 18$
kurzfristig erreicht. Es gibt keine besonders schlechten Meldungen.
Es gab ausser unseren objektiven Beobachtungen auch keine
Kaufhinweise! Das steht krass im Gegensatz zur der
medienweiten Miesmacherei, wegen angeblichen
E.-Coli-Bakterien-Kontaminationen in Salaten,
vor noch einigen Monaten.

Das Interesse an pvollmatschigen Bananen hält sich in Grenzen.
Kurs klemmte in einer Range 18/19.5$ fest, die 20$ war nicht
zu schaffen. Hier mal eine Melding, die nicht absolut destruktiv ist,
wenn auch weiterhin ein Kurswachstum nur mit der Lupe zu entdecken
sein wird. Jedenfalls wird aufgrund der Gewinnchancen nämlich in
schwarzen Zahlen ein PE von unter 20 realistisch. Ein Konsumwert
zäh und matschig wie gehabt, es gibt Schlechteres! Bleibt eingebucht,
irgendwann kann die 20$ zerstampft werden?

Meldung:

11-07-2007 07:10 Chiquita hopes for less tumultuous year
Name Letzter Veränderung
FRESH DEL MONTE 18.33 0.47 (2.63%)
CHIQUITA BRANDS ORD 17.99 -0.36 (-1.96%)
MCDONALDS ORD 52.05 -0.45 (-0.86%)


DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Talk about a company with a boatload of bad luck.

First, Chiquita Brands International Inc.'s biggest market for bananas, the European Union, slapped an onerous tariff on the fruit. Then a tainted spinach scare traced to a rival U.S. supplier tanked sales of Chiquita's bagged salads. Miscalculated hurricane activity led to costly inventory buildups while a record freeze wilted Arizona's lettuce crop. Finally, the company paid the U.S. government $25 million to settle allegations that one of its Latin American units had paid protection money to terrorists.

And all that in just 15 months ended in March.

Much of the adversity was beyond Chiquita's control, yet it added up to a hefty loss last year. But the banana giant seems determined to change course by transforming from a commodity-based company into a value-added one that its chief executive vows will become 'the global leader in branded, healthy, fresh foods.' Chiquita is betting on innovative technology, financial prudence and commonsense products such as mini bananas for children to achieve its goal. Investors buying into that strategy have

pushed the stock toward a 52-week high.

Shares of Chiquita fell 66 cents, or 3.5 percent, to $18.45 in trading Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange. The 52-week range is $19.92 and $12.48. Since emerging from bankruptcy in 2002, the stock's high was $31.09, in late 2005.

'We believe (the) worst is over,' Wachovia Capital Markets' analysts concluded after reviewing Chiquita's first-quarter loss of $3.4 million, or 8 cents a share, which included a charge of 12 cents a share related to the write-off of some faltering farms in Chile.

Noting that the operating profit was the first in nearly a year, the brokerage said, 'There's the palpable sense that profits have found a level which...should allow for a much better 2007.'

Others on Wall Street aren't so sure. Chiquita's balance sheet is often scrutinized, since debt reduction has become important following the company's emergence from bankruptcy.

Chiquita recently negotiated the sale-leaseback of its famed 'Great White Fleet' of container ships -- so called because of their white hulls, which repel the tropical sun-- grossed $227 million, most of which went to reduce borrowings.

Even so, Goldman Sachs analyst Karen Eltrich told clients that she was concerned about Chiquita's dependence on Europe's banana market and its hefty tariff.

Chiquita spokesman Michael Mitchell said the company has a stable platform for long-term growth and that it is firmly committed to achieving our long-term target of 40 percent total debt-to-capital ratio.' As of March 31, that ratio was 55 percent.

Much of Chiquita's future is tied to its ability to climb outside its fruit basket. Packaged salads are seen as a significant opportunity. The company bought into that business two years ago by acquiring for $855 million the Fresh Express brand -- now the leading name in bagged salads in the United States.

Another of the Cincinnati-based company's challenges is to deliver consistent results. Indeed, Chief Executive Fernando Aguirre recently said 'volatility is enemy No. 1 for the company.'

Last year, it lost $95.9 million, or $2.28 a share, on $4.5 billion in sales. A year earlier, it had made $131.4 million, or $2.92 a share, on $3.9 billion in sales. The analysts' consensus for this year is net earnings of about $23.7 million, or 56 cents a share, and for $48.3 million, or $1.14 a share, next year.

Chiquita wasn't alone in enduring rough seas. Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. also has posted erratic results -- it lost $145.1 million last year -- which its CEO called 'the toughest period our management team has faced.'

The company is counting heavily on modified-atmosphere packaging that keeps bananas ripe -- but not overripe -- for several days, a development that should make for increased sales in an array of new venues. Plans call for the company to double its nontraditional retailer base this year.

It also produces apple slices that are lightly sprayed with lemon juice to prevent browning. A major customer is McDonald's Corp., which includes them in its Happy Meals. The Subway sandwich chain sells them as well.

Such products put the company 'in the sweet spot of changing consumer preferences for healthy, convenient foods,' Morgan Joseph analyst Dean Haskell wrote in initiating coverage of Chiquita last month with a buy recommendation.

But bananas, which represent 43 percent of its sales, remain key to Chiquita's future. Several Central and South American countries are appealing the European Union's doubling of its banana tariff on Latin American fruit last year -- hitting Chiquita particularly hard, since that is its primary source.

Analysts calculate that a 10 euro reduction in the current 176 euro per metric ton tariff could mean an additional 20 cents in per-share earnings for Chiquita. Europe represents about half of the company's global banana sales.

Sometimes called the original fast food, bananas have been Chiquita's mainstay since the late 1800s when a sea captain brought a schoonerful from Jamaica to New Jersey and sold it for a profit of $2 a bunch.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Interessant, danke.

Bin noch dabei, und werde es auch bleiben. EP $17.8.

Wenn es allerdings mit dem Wetter in Europa so weitergeht, dann haben wir bald eigene Bananen im Garten. Mein Bäumchen im Topf macht sich dieses Jahr jedenfalls gut.

"52-week high" klingt doch gut, .....unser timing war es weniger.

Chiquita ist eine Baustelle. Aber wie im Bericht schon erwähnt wurde: Das Gröbste sollte geschafft sein. Und wer weiss was die Private-Equity-Gesellschaften noch alles vorhaben. Auch eine Fusion mit anderen im Food-Bereich wäre immer denkbar....

Aber eine Dividende wäre wieder mal genehm. Wurde glaub vor ein oder zwei Jahren gestrichen.

Gruss

Zahlen am 2. August. Angriff auf die $20 ? Wäre langsam Zeit :?

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CHIQUITA TO REPORT SECOND QUARTER FINANCIAL RESULTS AUG. 2, 2007

CINCINNATI July 23, 2007 Chiquita Brands International, Inc. (NYSE: CQB) will release second quarter financial results on Aug. 2, 2007, after the market closes and will host a conference call at 4:30 p.m. EDT that day.
To listen to the audio webcast of the conference call, please use the link on Chiquita's home page (www.chiquita.com) . . .
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