Sales at the shellfish producer jumped 160% for the first half of fiscal 2008, rising from $305,000 last year to $795,000. Revenues in the second quarter were $366,000 versus $182,000 for the same period in 2007.
The company reported a gross loss for the quarter of $128,000, an increase of $36,000 year over year. For the first six months of 2008, the gross loss totaled $233,000. Last year’s first-half gross loss was $160,000.
Robert Saunders, Chairman, CEO and President of Edgewater, expressed satisfaction with the results. “The increase in our overall sales was a direct result of our new sales and marketing efforts coupled with our emphasis on infrastructure improvements, our new processing facility, and crop expansion. In the first half of this fiscal year we
— began distribution into the Hong Kong market and expects these sales to
increase in the upcoming fiscal quarters;
— added new product lines to our traditional West Coast markets; and
— introduced fresh scallops into high-end restaurants in Toronto and
Montreal and frozen-on-the-half-shell product into the lucrative markets of
the eastern United States and Canada.”
“Moreover,” Mr. Saunders added, “in late March, we received approval from the British Columbia government to convert our largest scallop farm to the off-bottom growing technique, which we expect will increase our farm capacity by 300% and add 20 million scallops to the harvest cycle. This is another important step in expanding our production and, coupled with our new processing plant and new marketing efforts, will help drive revenue increases, Company growth and shareholder value for the rest of 2008 and thereafter.”
