Innovative Food Holdings, Inc. Reports Financial Results for Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2024

Key Fiscal Year data points:

   -- Revenue of $72.1 million, +2.5% vs. 2023 
 
   -- Organic revenue growth (1) of +11.4% vs. 2023 
 
   -- Gross margin declined by 85 basis points vs. 2023 to 23.4% 
 
   -- GAAP net income (loss) from continuing operations of $2.5 million vs. 
      ($3.7) million in 2023 
 
   -- GAAP net income (loss) from continuing operations per fully diluted share 
      of $0.049 vs. ($0.076) in 2023 
 
   -- Non-GAAP adjusted net income from continuing operations of $2.1 million 
      vs. $1.3 million in 2023 
 
   -- Non-GAAP adjusted net income per fully diluted share of $0.041 vs. $0.027 
      in 2023 
 
   -- Non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA of $3.2 million vs. $2.7 million in 2023 

(1) Organic revenue growth excludes the impact of divestitures and acquisitions

BONITA SPRINGS, Fla., March 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Innovative Food Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: IVFH) ("IVFH" or the "Company"), a national seller of gourmet specialty foods to professional chefs, today reported its financial results for the fourth quarter and total fiscal year ended December 31, 2024.

Bill Bennett, Chief Executive Officer of IVFH, remarked, "2024 marked tremendous progress against our strategic plan as we finished our first phase (stabilization) and began our second phase (building the foundation for growth). Contributing to these efforts, we brought on a new CFO, added two new large distributor partners, on-boarded a large new retail customer, and completed two new acquisitions. Additionally, we sold our headquarters building, our direct-to-consumer e-commerce businesses, and several other smaller entities. These bold moves drove a significant improvement in our financials, with revenue growing 2.5% in the face of significant divestitures. Organic revenue growth, which excludes the impact of divestitures and acquisitions, was +11.4% for the full year. GAAP net income increased by $6.2 million in 2024 to $2.5 million, and adjusted EBITDA increased 18.5% during the year to $3.2 million. This improvement occurred despite significant inventory liquidation related to our divested businesses, and material upfront startup costs related to our new retail customer. These items contributed to an 85 basis point decline in gross margin, which was offset by a reduction in SG&A spend. Excluding non-cash stock compensation and non-recurring fees, SG&A spend decreased by approximately $1.0 million in 2024, amounting to 191 basis points of revenue. This is in addition to a reduction of over $1 million in 2023. It is exciting to see the growth and earnings potential of the organization begin to shine."

Key Fourth Quarter data points:

   -- Revenue of $23.0 million, +19.2% vs. Q4 2023 
 
   -- Organic revenue growth (1) of +44.3% vs. Q4 2023 
 
   -- Gross margin declined by 235 basis points vs. Q4 2023 to 20.9% 
 
   -- GAAP net income (loss) from continuing operations of ($0.2) million vs. 
      ($1.4) million in Q4 2023 
 
   -- GAAP net income (loss) from continuing operations per fully diluted share 
      of ($0.001) vs. ($0.034) in Q4 2023 
 
   -- Non-GAAP adjusted net income from continuing operations of $618 thousand 
      vs. $197 thousand in Q4 2023 
 
   -- Non-GAAP adjusted net income per fully diluted share of $0.012 vs. $0.004 
      in Q4 2023 
 
   -- Non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA of $880 thousand vs. $559 thousand in Q4 2023 
 
   -- Completed acquisition of Denver-based Golden Organics and Fort 
      Collins-based LoCo Food Distribution 
 
   -- New retail sales channel generated $5.3 million in revenue 
 
   -- New acquisitions contributed $838 thousand in revenue 

(1) Organic revenue growth excludes the impact of divestitures and acquisitions

Mr. Bennett continued, "Q4 2024 represented the first quarter of the ramp up of our new retail customer, as well as six weeks of contribution from our new Golden Organics business, and one week from our new LoCo Foods Distribution business. While revenue grew 19.2% compared to last year, organic revenue growth, which excludes the impact of divestitures and acquisitions, was an impressive 44.3% despite continued softness in our business with our largest drop ship customer. The new retail customer accounted for 79% of the increase in organic revenue. Despite a 235 basis point decline in our total company gross margin rate, gross margin dollars rose by $0.3 million on an additional $3.7 million in revenue. Excluding non-cash stock compensation and non-recurring fees, SG&A spend increased by $86 thousand, with SG&A as a percentage of revenue improving by 377 basis points. We are pleased with this performance, as we effectively managed expenses while significantly increasing growth-related spending compared to the same period last year. GAAP Net Income improved by $1.2 million vs. Q4 2023. Adjusted EBITDA improved by $321 thousand vs. Q4 2023 to $880 thousand in Q4 2024, despite the profit headwind of approximately $700 thousand driven by the ramp up of the retail business."

Mr. Bennett added, "We're very pleased to see our new growth businesses and acquisitions begin to materialize this quarter and demonstrate the growth potential of the Company. We also continue to see strong growth with our new national distributor partner announced last Spring, triple-digit growth in our Amazon sales channel, double-digit growth in our airline catering business, and double-digit growth in our Chicago Artisan business. In fact, we are continuing to experience greater than 25% organic growth in the first quarter-to-date of 2025. We're also thrilled to have recently announced in Q1 of 2025 that the large retail customer we on-boarded in 2024 has expanded their program with us, and that we won a first-class custom cheese program with an international airline, which represents a new line of business for us."

"The Company has a solid foundation, a passionate and committed team, and an industry with tremendous long-term potential. We recognize the importance of maintaining a laser focus on our top priorities in a complex economic environment to create a robust, profitable, and sustainable business model. As we navigate the ever-changing landscape of the food industry, we believe in our ability to adapt, innovate, and capitalize on opportunities focused on driving long-term shareholder value," concluded Mr. Bennett.

Conference Call

The Company's management will hold an investor call on March 7, 2025 at 10:00 am Eastern Time to discuss the Company's results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2024. At the end of the meeting, the Company will host a question-and-answer session with investors. All interested participants may attend the call on the web or by phone. The Company encourages those who wish to ask questions to join the call virtually through Zoom, rather than on the phone, as Zoom's "raise hand" feature makes it easier for management to identify questioners. Details for the meeting are as follows:

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84531400931?pwd=OxjOExa1VI0lDeGIzxplrD7iFwAIGX.1

Meeting ID: 845 3140 0931

Passcode: 000164

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About Innovative Food Holdings, Inc.

At IVFH, we help make meals special. We provide access to foods that are hard to find, have a compelling story, or are on the forefront of food trends. Our gourmet foods marketplace connects the world's best artisan food makers with top professional chefs nationwide. We curate the assortment, experience, and tech enabled tools that help our professional chefs create unforgettable experiences for their guests. Additional information is available at www.ivfh.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains certain forward-looking statements and information relating to the Company that are based on the current beliefs of the Company's management, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, the Company. Such statements, including those related to the Company's growth plans, reflect the current views of the Company with respect to future events and are subject to certain assumptions, including those described in this release. Should one or more of these underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein, which include words such as "should," "could," "will," "anticipate," "believe," "intend," "plan," "might," "potentially" "targeting" or "expect", or similar expressions. Additional factors that could also cause actual results to differ materially relate to current conditions and expected future developments, international crises, environmental and economic issues and other risk factors described in the Company's public filings. As a result, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and should understand that these statements are not guarantees of performance or results and that there are a number of risks, uncertainties and other important factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control, that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those expressed in these statements, including, among others: economic factors affecting consumer confidence and discretionary spending; cost inflation/deflation and commodity volatility; competition; reliance on third party suppliers and interruption of product supply or increases in product costs; and changes in the Company's relationships with vendors and customers. The Company does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.

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