Leaf merchant Alliance One International reported a 7.7 per cent increase in sales and a 30.7 per cent increase in operating income for the 12 months ended 31 March 2018, the company said in its fiscal year 2018 results.

Total sales and other operating revenues for the 12-month period, at USD 1.846 billion (EUR 1.580 billion), increased by 7.7 per cent compared to the USD 1.715 billion reported in full-year 2017 results. Operating income for 2018 was up 30.7 per cent, at USD 110.6 million.
The leaf merchant attributed the growth in sales to a 7.5 per cent increase in average sales price, due to what the company noted was a “favourable product mix” in North and South America.
Alliance said leaf volume increased by 0.5 per cent to reach 383 million kg over the 12-month period.
Fourth-quarter results showed a 5.6 per cent increase in sales. The company reported USD 643.9 million (EUR 551.3 million) in sales for the three-month period and attributed the 5.6 per cent increase to a larger South American crop and higher average sales prices. Operating income for the fourth quarter decreased slightly to USD 32.5 million, Alliance One said.
Pieter Sikkel, president and chief executive officer, said the company’s 2018 performance was strong in financial terms, but also in terms of working towards the transformational goals named by the leaf merchant as its One Tomorrow initiative. In the previous quarter, Alliance One said it will invest in long-term growth opportunities, like e-liquids, industrial hemp and legal cannabis, and broaden its business portfolio with other agricultural products, as part of the initiative.