Limoneira 
Company, a diversified citrus growing, packing, selling and marketing company with related agribusiness activities and real estate development operations, today reported financial results for the second quarter ended April 30, 2021.
Management Comments
Harold Edwards, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, stated, “Our 14% second quarter top line growth was due to record second quarter lemon volume and strong avocado volume. Our focus on retail food and club grocery business continues to perform well and we are beginning to experience an improvement in domestic foodservice and export sales as dining-out increases from COVID-19 vaccine distribution. Additionally, due to our continued focus on cost improvement initiatives, our adjusted EBITDA improved to $6.0 million compared to a loss of $0.1 million for the same period last year.”
Edwards continued, “Our real estate development project, Harvest at Limoneira, continues to perform very well and has now closed 524 lots since inception, including 66 lot closings in the second quarter of fiscal 2021 and 60 new lot closings in May 2021. The pace of home sales has been increasing this year and as each quarter closes, we gain confidence in the timing of the expected $80 million of cash distributions from Harvest at Limoneira over the next six years beginning in fiscal 2022. In addition, we believe there is potential upside to our stated cash distributions due to increased number of housing units in Harvest at Limoneira as well as the potential opportunity of a medical campus in our East Area 2 development.”
Fiscal Year 2021 Second Quarter Results
For the second quarter of fiscal year 2021, total net revenue was $45.1 million, compared to total net revenue of $39.6 million in the second quarter of the previous fiscal year. Agribusiness revenue was $44.0 million, compared to $38.4 million in the second quarter of last fiscal year. Other operations revenue was essentially flat compared to the prior year at $1.1 million for the second quarter of fiscal year 2021.
Agribusiness revenue for the second quarter of fiscal year 2021 includes $28.7 million in fresh lemon sales, compared to $25.3 million of fresh lemon sales during the same period of fiscal year 2020. The increase was primarily the result of increased volume and higher prices of fresh lemons sold compared to the same period in the prior year. Approximately 1,528,000 cartons of fresh lemons were sold in aggregate during the second quarter of fiscal year 2021 at an $18.79 average price per carton compared to approximately 1,475,000 cartons sold at a $17.14 average price per carton during the second quarter of fiscal year 2020. The Company recognized $2.7 million of avocado revenue in the second quarter of fiscal year 2021, compared to $2.0 million in the same period last fiscal year.