JBT upbeat about 2014 profit and 2015 outlook; lands Asian contracts worth $20m

The Chicago, Illinois-based food processing equipment manufacturer reported full-year 2014 revenue of $984m, a 5.4% increase over 2013. JBT’s FoodTech segment contributed $634.7m to that total.

JBT also logged a record segment operating profit of $103m for 2014, up 12.5% from the previous year. The increase was driven by margin expansion and operating leverage, company officials said. JBT FoodTech brought in $72.7m (71%) of the total segment operating profit.

“Excluding the impact of foreign currency translation, revenue and segment operating profit increased 6.9% and 13.9%, respectively,”​ JBT officials said. “Corporate expense for the year was $37.5m, including $8.8m in management succession and consulting costs.”​

JBT also had $14.5m of restructuring charges for 2014.

Opportunities in Asia

JBT also announced it has received orders for hydrostatic sterilization systems with a total value of about $20m from multiple customers in Asia. Officials said they expect delivery on those projects to be completed by the third quarter of 2016.

“We are very pleased with the confidence expressed by the liquid foods processing industry in Asia in JBT's leading sterilization technologies,” ​said Steve Smith, president of FoodTech.

“We acquired the hydrostatic sterilizer technology through our 2014 acquisition of ICS Solutions BV. These significant customer order wins are a testament to our ability to successfully integrate the company and offer our customers a more comprehensive line of global solutions for their liquid foods processing needs.”​

The hydrostatic sterilization equipment will be used in processing dairy and dairy-alternative liquid food products in a variety of packages, company officials said.