PREMIUM BRANDS HOLDINGS CORPORATION REPORTS RECORD SECOND QUARTER SALES AND ADJUSTED EBITDA, DECLARES THIRD QUARTER DIVIDEND AND ANNOUNCES COMPLETION OF TENNESSEE SANDWICH PLANT SALE AND LEASEBACK

VANCOUVER, BC, Aug. 6, 2025 /CNW/ – Premium Brands Holdings Corporation (TSX:PBH), a leading producer, marketer and distributor of branded specialty food products, announced today its results for the second quarter of 2025.

QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

• Record second quarter revenue of $1.9 billion representing a 12.5%, or $212.2 million, increase as compared to the second quarter of 2024
  
  
• Solid progress on Specialty Foods’ core U.S. growth initiatives in protein and artisan baked goods, which for the quarter generated organic volume growth rates of 15.0% and 98.1%, respectively. Specialty Foods’ U.S. year-over-year growth rate for sandwich products was impacted by channel fill sales associated with a major new product launch in the second quarter of 2024
  
  
• Including acquisitions, Specialty Foods’ total U.S. sales, which represented 64.3% of its second quarter sales, grew by $140.5 million to $843.7 million
  
  
• Record second quarter adjusted EBITDA¹ of $177.1 million representing a 7.6%, or $12.5 million, increase as compared to the second quarter of 2024, despite significant protein cost inflation challenges
  
  
• Second quarter adjusted EPS¹ of $1.33 per share representing a 3.9%, or $0.05 per share, increase as compared to the second quarter of 2024
  
  
• Reaffirmed 2025 sales and adjusted EBITDA¹ guidance ranges of $7.2 billion to $7.4 billion, and $680 million to $700 million, respectively
  
  
• Declared a dividend of $0.85 per common share for the third quarter of 2025
  
  
• Generated US$166.0 million from the sale and leaseback of the real estate associated with the Company’s recently completed 352,000 square foot sandwich plant in Cleveland, TN
  
  
• Repaid a $172.5 million convertible debenture that matured on April 30, 2025
  
  
• Progress on debt deleveraging with the Company’s total debt-to-EBITDA ratio declining to 4.2:1 from 4.6:1 in the first quarter of 2025
  
  
• Posted the 2025 CEO Letter to Shareholders titled “The Future of Food is in the Past” at www.premiumbrandsholdings.com

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS SESSION

The Company will hold a Q&A session on its second quarter 2025 results today at 10:30 a.m. Vancouver time (1:30 p.m. Toronto time). Management’s pre-recorded remarks and an investor presentation that will be referenced on the conference call are available here or by navigating through the Company’s website at www.premiumbrandsholdings.com.

Access to the Q&A session may be obtained by calling the operator at (289) 514-5100 or (800) 717-1738 (Conference ID: 07291) up to ten minutes prior to the scheduled start time. For those who are unable to participate, a recording of the conference call will be available through to 11:59 p.m. Toronto time on September 6, 2025 at (289) 819-1325 or (888) 660-6264 (passcode: 07291#). Alternatively, a recording of the conference call will be available on the Company’s website at www.premiumbrandsholdings.com.

SUMMARY FINANCIAL INFORMATION
(In millions of dollars except per share amounts and ratios)

 

“Our second quarter sales performance clearly reflects the progress we are making in leveraging recent capital investments and acquisitions to generate strong and sustainable growth. The big drivers of our sales increase were our U.S.-market-focused initiatives in protein and artisan baked goods, which generated organic volume growth rates of 15% and 98%, respectively. Our Sandwich Group, which has a robust pipeline of sales opportunities, had a small volume contraction due to an exceptionally tough year-over-year comparative resulting from a major new product launch in the second quarter of 2024. We do, however, expect the Sandwich Group to resume their historic growth trajectory very quickly as they leverage their new and recently commissioned 352,000 square foot facility in Cleveland, Tennessee,” said Mr. George Paleologou, President and CEO.

“Our adjusted EBITDA, while reaching a record quarterly high, did not reflect our full potential due to significant chicken and beef commodity cost inflation in the quarter. The easing in the cost of certain commodities, combined with passing on targeted price increases where needed, will help to deal with this challenge and should put us back on the path to reaching our mid-term target of an annual adjusted EBITDA margin of 10%.

“Overall, our results for the quarter were in line with our expectations and we are well positioned to achieve our 2025 objectives of $7.2 billion to $7.4 billion in sales and $680 million to $700 million in adjusted EBITDA.

“In terms of acquisitions, we remain very active and continue to enjoy an especially robust deal pipeline. This includes several transactions that we could potentially complete this year. We remain, however, committed to continuing to deleverage our balance sheet over the course of 2025 and any transactions will be done within this context.

“For more color on our growth strategies and other company and industry topics, please see my 2025 Letter to Shareholders titled “The Future of Food is in the Past” which can be found on our website at www.premiumbrandsholdings.com,” added Mr. Paleologou. 

THIRD QUARTER 2025 DIVIDEND

The Company also announced that its Board of Directors approved a cash dividend of $0.85 per common share for the third quarter of 2025, which will be payable on October 15, 2025 to shareholders of record at the close of business on September 30, 2025.

Unless indicated otherwise in writing at or before the time the dividend is paid, each dividend paid by the Company in 2025 or a subsequent year is an eligible dividend for the purposes of the Enhanced Dividend Tax Credit System.

ABOUT PREMIUM BRANDS

Premium Brands owns a broad range of leading specialty food manufacturing and differentiated food distribution businesses with operations across Canada and the United States.

www.premiumbrandsholdings.com

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The Company reports on two reportable segments, Specialty Foods and Premium Food Distribution, as well as non-segmented investment income and corporate costs (Corporate). The Specialty Foods segment consists of the Company’s specialty food manufacturing businesses while the Premium Food Distribution segment consists of the Company’s differentiated distribution and wholesale businesses as well as certain seafood processing businesses. Investment income includes interest and management fees generated from the Company’s businesses that are accounted for using the equity method.

Revenue

Specialty Foods’ (SF) revenue for the quarter increased by $160.0 million or 13.9% primarily due to: (i) business acquisitions, which generated $73.9 million in growth; (ii) organic volume growth of $53.8 million representing an organic volume growth rate (OVGR) of 4.7%; (iii) selling price increases of $27.3 million, which were primarily in response to higher chicken and beef input costs; and (iv) a $5.0 million increase in the translated value of sales generated by SF’s U.S. based businesses due to a weaker Canadian dollar.

SF’s OVGR of 4.7% was driven by: (i) a variety of protein, sandwich and baked goods growth initiatives in the U.S. which generated organic volume growth of $72.0 million representing an OVGR of 10.9%; and (ii) continued improvement in its Canadian sales, which grew at an OVGR of 1.8%. These factors were partially offset by: (i) a contraction in sandwich sales volumes due to channel fill sales associated with a major new product launch in the second quarter of 2024; and (ii) a small decline in beef jerky sales as this category continues to be challenged by record high beef prices and consumer price sensitivity.

SF’s revenue for the first two quarters of 2025 increased by $345.9 million or 16.2% primarily due to: (i) business acquisitions, which generated $149.5 million in growth; (ii) organic volume growth of $112.0 million representing an OVGR of 5.2%; (iii) selling price increases of $44.5 million; and (iv) a $39.9 million increase in the translated value of sales generated by SF’s U.S. based businesses due to a weaker Canadian dollar.

Premium Food Distribution’s (PFD) revenue for the quarter increased by $52.2 million or 9.5% due to: (i) organic volume growth of $28.6 million representing an OVGR of 5.2%; (ii) selling price increases of $23.1 million, which were primarily in response to higher beef and chicken input costs; and (iii) a $0.5 million increase in the translated value of sales generated by PFD’s U.S. based businesses due to a weaker Canadian dollar.

PFD’s OVGR of 5.2% was driven by: (i) continued year-over-year improvement in the Canadian retail and foodservice markets; (ii) opportunistic inventory buys made in the fourth quarter of 2024; and (iii) new retail selling relationships in Ontario and Quebec.

PFD’s revenue for the first two quarters of 2025 increased by $83.7 million or 8.2% primarily due to: (i) selling price increases of $52.0 million; (ii) organic volume growth of $28.2 million representing an OVGR of 2.7%; and (iii) a $3.5 million increase in the translated value of sales generated by PFD’s U.S. based businesses due to a weaker Canadian dollar.

Gross Profit

SF’s gross profit as a percentage of its revenue (gross margin) for the quarter decreased by 180 basis points primarily due to: (i) raw material cost inflation, primarily associated with chicken and beef products – normalizing for this factor net of related selling price increases, SF’s gross margin is 21.9%; (ii) increased plant overheads associated with new capacity coming on line including SF’s new 352,000 square foot sandwich facility in Tennessee, which started production in early May 2025; and (iii) recent acquisitions, which on a combined basis are expected to generate margins below SF’s average gross margin for the next several quarters as various sales and operational initiatives are implemented (see Forward Looking Statements). These factors were partially offset by: (i) sales leveraging benefits associated with SF’s organic volume growth; and (ii) production efficiency gains.

SF’s gross margin for first two quarters of 2025 decreased by 170 basis points primarily due to the same factors that impacted the current quarter.

PFD’s gross margin for the quarter and the first two quarters of 2025 decreased by 120 basis points and 110 basis points, respectively, primarily due to: (i) a higher than normal gross margin in the second quarter of 2024 resulting from an increase in the allocation of production overhead to inventory associated with an opportunistic processed lobster inventory build; and (ii) its selling price increases being only slightly higher than the associated commodity cost inflation. These factors were partially offset by production efficiency gains in the second quarter of 2025.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses (SG&A)

SF’s SG&A as a percentage of sales (SG&A ratio) for the quarter and for the first two quarters of 2025 each decreased by 110 basis points primarily due to: (i) sales leveraging benefits associated with its growth; (ii) lower bonus accruals; (iii) freight cost deflation; and (iv) recent acquisitions having a lower SG&A ratio relative to SF’s average ratio.

PFD’s SG&A ratio for the quarter and for the first two quarters of 2025 decreased by 110 basis points and 100 basis points, respectively, primarily due to: (i) sales leveraging benefits associated with its growth; and (ii) lower bonus accruals.

Adjusted EBITDA ⁽¹⁾

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