Amsterdam, June 25 - Dutch food group Wessanen NV expects its U.S. distribution unit, which accounts for half of turnover, to reverse its sales decline in the second quarter and pick up in the third quarter, its chief executive said on Monday.
"We forecast break-even (for sales) or slightly better for the second quarter for Tree of Life based on the contracts we got onboard. Third quarter should be a plus," CEO Ad Veenhof told Reuters in an interview.
Wessanen, which distributes organic, natural and ethnic foods and whose brands include Zonnatura health foods, Daily's cocktail mixes and Beckers frozen snacks, missed most of its targets last year as it struggled to overhaul its business.
Tree of Life North America posted a 14 percent drop in first-quarter revenue to 209 million euros ($281.3 million) from a year-ago period, its fourth successive quarterly decline.
"The restructuring in Europe and the U.S. is behind us. The new focus is on growing top line and looking to what is vital to growing the business," said Veenhof.
The company sees growth in the U.S. market fuelled by increasing demand for organic and ethnic foods from health-conscious consumers and multi-cultural communities.
"Also, Americans are travelling more, everywhere, enjoying other cultures, other foods," said Veenhof.
He said Wessanen, which acquired privately-owned U.S. food distributor Organica USA Inc. in April, has indentified several more targets in Europe and the United States but is not rushing to close any deal.
"Any acquisition should help us reach our target of 5-7 percent top line growth and our long-term profitability target of 10-12 percent," said Veenhof.
Asked on possible takeover interest from private equity groups or even from U.S. rival United Natural Foods Inc., Veenhof said: "I am not aware of it. I have not been approached."
Analysts have said the company may be taken over after getting back on track.
A number of Dutch companies have recently been targeted by activist shareholders. ABN AMRO, the Netherlands' biggest bank, is now at the centre of a takeover battle between Barclays and a consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland.