Business
Lifeway Foods, Inc. Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year Ended December 31, 2020
Net Sales increase 8.9% Year-over-Year to $102 million MORTON GROVE, Ill., March 25, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lifeway Foods, Inc. (Nasdaq: LWAY) (“Lifeway” or
About this update from Lifeway Foods, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"Net Sales increase 8.9% Year-over-Year to $102 million\nMORTON GROVE, Ill., March 25, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lifeway Foods, Inc. (Nasdaq: LWAY) (“Lifeway” or “the Company”), the leading U.S. supplier of kefir and fermented probiotic products to support the microbiome, today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2020. “I am very pleased to report another exciting and strong year of growth here at Lifeway, particularly in light of this difficult year defined by the COVID-19 pandemic,” commented Julie Smolyansky, CEO and President of Lifeway. “Of note, our net sales grew 8.9% to $102.0 million compared to 2019, and our net income increased from $0.5 million in 2019 to $3.2 million in 2020. The food retail environment has been majorly reshaped this year, and our decision to focus on digital engagement has paid dividends in continuing to attract more and more consumers to our multi-serve, immune supporting products. I am very encouraged by the ongoing market trends towards healthy products like Lifeway’s, and I believe this momentum will carry on far past just 2021. Our current retail partnerships are seeing gains, illustrated by our strong results, as we continue to enhance category growth, and we plan on both expanding the current and identifying new profitable relationships in the year ahead. Finally, this year we will continue to invest in customer acquisition strategies because we want more and more people to hear the Lifeway story. We are looking forward to an outstanding 2021.” Full Year 2020 Results Net sales were $102.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, an increase of $8.4 million or 8.9% versus prior year. The net sales increase was primarily driven by higher volumes of our branded drinkable kefir, partially offset by lower cream revenues associated with a decline in the market price of butter fat. Gross profit as a percentage of net sales increased to 26.4% for the year ended December 31, 2020 from 23.6% during the same period in 2019. The increase versus the prior year was primarily due to the impact of favorable milk pricing, and to a lesser extent favorable freight costs. Selling expenses decreased $0.9 million, or 7.8%, to $10.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 from $11.1 million in 2019. Selling expenses as a percentage of net sales were 10.0% in 2...