SANTA PAULA, CA - Following its recent announcement revealing plans to explore strategic options set to maximize shareholder value, Limoneira Company has kicked off the new year with an exciting operational update. The supplier has unveiled its fourth quarter and full-year results for fiscal year 2023. 

“I am pleased with our performance in fiscal year 2023 as we achieved our full year avocado and revised lemon volume guidance despite harsh weather conditions and softer pricing throughout most of the year,” Harold Edwards, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated. “We ended the year with fresh lemon pricing improving year-over-year in the seasonally soft fourth quarter to the highest level since 2019. Additionally, our company’s strategic shift toward an ‘asset-lighter’ business model progressed this year and is reflected in our latest results with brokered lemons and other lemon sales growing year-over-year for the second quarter in a row in the fourth quarter and our farm management revenue reaching close to $10 million this fiscal year.”

As Edwards continued to note, the supplier also made progress monetizing or eliminating certain non-strategic assets through the sale of its Northern Properties for $98 million in net cash proceeds, extending a water fallowing program in Yuma, Arizona, for expected annual proceeds of $1.3 million and exiting its unprofitable farming operations in Cadiz. 

“All of these actions have positioned our company to be in a much stronger financial position with our balance sheet rightsized and our year-end net debt position at the lowest level since becoming a publicly traded company,” Edwards said. 

Other integral highlights revealed in the report include:

• Achieved YOY pricing improvement in fresh lemons in Q4 of 2023
• Full-year brokered lemons and other lemon sales grew 24 percent to $30.3 million compared to the prior year
• Achieved avocado and lemon volume guidance for FY2023
• Executing exploration of strategic alternatives intended to maximize shareholder value

“Heading into fiscal year 2024, we are committed to advancing our strategic shift and believe the actions taken this past year have set us up to improve margins in fiscal year 2024,” added Edwards. 

To view the company’s full financial results, click here. 

How will Limoneira continue to advance its ambitious growth strategies? Stick around to find out.