Vermont Pure Increases Sales Following Merger

Vermont Pure Increases Sales Following Merger

RANDOLPH, Vt.--On the strength of integrating recently acquired Crystal Rock, natural spring water bottler and distributor Vermont Pure (AMEX:VPUR) posted revenues and earnings gains for its first quarter ended Jan. 31. Net sales more than doubled to $14.2 million from $6.4 million sold in the same quarter last year. This revenue gain was attributed to the effect of the merger with Crystal Rock, which was completed in October 2000. After adjusting for the merger on a pro forma basis, sales increased 14 percent in the quarter compared to the year prior. This strong top line performance led to a net income of $24,000 or zero cents per share, a notable gain from $91,000 lost in the comparable quarter a year ago.
Timothy Fallon, chairman and chief executive officer, credited the merger synergies for the positive results and noted that first quarter typically draws the company's weakest performance. "Having achieved profitability in our most challenging quarter, we are looking forward to exceeding our previously stated guidance of $65 million in sales and EBITDA of $13 million for the current fiscal year," he said.
Fallon further reported that Vermont Pure now has a base of more than 80,000 customers, which ranks the company as the fourth largest provider of bottled water and related products to the home and business sector of the market. "Our recently announced agreements to supply the private label spring water requirements of two major supermarkets in the Northeast will provide additional strength to the retail portion of our sales mix," he added.