Yavne, Israel, January 17 - G. Willi-Food International Ltd. (the "Company" or "Willi Food"), one of Israel's largest food importers and a single-source supplier of one of the world's most extensive range of quality kosher food products, today provided updates regarding its current operations, acquisition activity and preliminary fiscal fourth quarter and year end 2007 revenues.
Business Operations
The Company's Gold Frost subsidiary, which designs, develops and distributes chilled, dairy and frozen products, recently released a trading statement and expects that its gross and net profit for the year ended December 31, 2007 to fall below expectations affected by weather related problems, reduced milk production and cessation of EU dairy export subsidies, which have significantly increased the global price of raw materials for its products. While the dairy industry predicts that global prices for raw milk products should stabilize by the first half of 2008, Gold Frost's Board of Directors stated that they are unable to predict when global dairy prices will stabilize and therefore the outlook for Gold Frost in 2008 remains uncertain. Further to this, Gold Frost does not believe that it will be able to further pass on increased costs to consumers at present, but it will continue to monitor the situation carefully.
Acquisition Activity
The Company announced today that it is postponing its discussions to acquire a 51% majority interest in the Russian dairy distributor it had intended to purchase, as previously announced on October 22, 2007, until global dairy prices stabilize and there is more certainty in the dairy markets. As a result, there is no guarantee that the transaction will close.
On January 3, 2008, the Company announced Board approval for the closing of Shamir Salads. The Israeli Anti-Trust Authorities have approved this acquisition, the closing is scheduled for next week and the Company expects to consolidate the results of Shamir Salads on the first quarter of 2008.
Fourth Quarter and Full Fiscal Year 2007
Willi Food announced that it expects to report an approximately 46% increase in revenues for the fourth quarter over the prior year's period and an approximately 31% increase in revenue for fiscal 2007 over the prior year's period.
Willi-Food expects to publish its financial results for the fourth quarter and full fiscal 2007 year at the end of March 2008. The Company will host an earnings conference call at that time.
Mr. Zwi Williger, President and COO of Willi-Food concluded, "For the period, we achieved impressive top line results while in an extremely difficult operating environment. We continue to monitor the dairy situation and look forward to launching our brand of premium kosher dairy products globally once raw milk prices stabilize. For now, we are seeking pathways to mitigate the risks of fluctuating commodity prices by diversifying our business verticals, entering new geographical markets and leveraging our infrastructure in the most efficient means possible. We hope to update everyone with respect to our strategic initiatives and acquisition strategy during our fiscal year end conference call."
About G. Willi-Food International, Ltd.
G. Willi-Food International Ltd. is one of Israel's largest food importers and a single-source supplier of one of the world's most extensive ranges of quality kosher food products. It currently imports, markets and distributes more than 400 food products manufactured by some 100 top-tier suppliers throughout the world to more than 1,700 customers. Willi Food excels in identifying changing tastes in its markets and sourcing high-quality kosher products to address them. The Company's Gold Frost Ltd. subsidiary develops and distributes kosher chilled and frozen dairy food products internationally, while its Laish Israeli subsidiary and joint venture with the Baron Family engage in the global import, export and distribution of kosher products worldwide.